MERJ Newsletter 9/30/2025
Activists in Washington, D.C. mark the 50th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court decision that established a right to abortion, on January 22, 2023. Photo by Aurora Samperio/NurPhoto.
“September 28 is International Safe Abortion Day, a chance to shine a light on the crucial role that accessible, quality abortion care plays in global health.
Abortion is one of the world’s most common health care services. It’s considered an essential service by the World Health Organization—and when carried out properly, it’s also a safe and simple one.
Almost 30% of all pregnancies end in abortions, and they happen all around the world: in places where they’re legal, restricted, and altogether banned. In fact, the legal status of abortion makes little difference in overall abortion rates.
But laws and policies make a huge difference when it comes to safety. Where legal restrictions put safe, quality abortion services out of reach, people are forced to seek care elsewhere. Nearly half of the world’s 73 million annual abortions are unsafe—resulting in tens of thousands of deaths per year and accounting for up to 13% of maternal deaths.
The numbers speak for themselves: Safe abortion is a matter of life and death.
The good news? More and more countries are recognizing that people have a right to safe abortion, just like they have a right to other essential health care. Despite the rise of anti-rights movements looking to reverse progress on abortion, the global trend is toward increased protections and access—paving the way for a future where all abortion is safe abortion.
”
📚 MERJ Book Club!
If you’re interested in joining one of our future book discussions, email us at action@endthepatriarchy.org, and we’ll be happy to invite you!
Men and Abortion:
Lessons, Losses, and Love
Arthur B. Shostak
(Author)
,
Lynn Seng
(Author)
,
Gary McLouth
(Author)
Originally published October 15, 1984; notes below from Bookshop.org page.
Here is a pioneering and revealing study of the meaning of the abortion experience for American men.
The book draws on over 400 detailed surveys from men involved in an abortion, along with opinion data from secondary polls of American women.
“Shostak and colleagues have amassed a valuable set of quantitative and qualitative data blended with a richly sensitive, compassionate, and thought-provoking discussion...." -Contemporary Sociology
Other books we’ve read, and strongly recommend:
Killing the Black Body: Race, Reproduction, and the Meaning of Liberty, by Dorothy Roberts
Abortion: Our Bodies, Their Lies, and the Truths We Use to Win, by Jessica Valenti
Ejaculate Responsibly: A Whole New Way to Think About Abortion, by Gabrielle Blair
Comics for Choice, ed. Newlevant, Taylor, and Fox
You’re the Only One I’ve Told: The Stories Behind Abortion, by Dr. Meera Shah
Undivided Rights: Women of Color Organize for Reproductive Justice, by Silliman, Gerber Fried, Ross, and Gutiérrez
Reproductive Justice: An Introduction, by Loretta J. Ross and Rickie Solinger
A letter from MERJ’s co-founder
We’ve Passed 250! A Movement Grows
Dear MERJ Community,
We’re proud to announce that our former “Organizations Which Support Reproductive Justice” page reached its full capacity—250 reproductive justice organizations listed and recognized for their vital work! Every organization on our list is fighting for the rights of people to have children, not to have children, and raise families in safe and supported communities. This includes fighting racism, poverty, gender-based violence, criminalization, and health inequities.
Back in 2022, MERJ recognized the need for a resource hub on our website. This would direct people to organizations, books and articles that deepened community knowledge surrounding reproductive justice and gender-affirming care. Three years later, we are pleased to announce that our network of RJ organizations has exceeded the limit for a webpage on our website.
This does not mean that our work to research and find these care-providing spaces will stop. In fact, our tech captain has engineered a way for us to continue this effort. We have decided to divide our organizations into two buckets: State and National. Please take a moment to review the RJ organizations that are in your home state!
This milestone is more than a number. It’s proof that the movement for reproductive justice is strong, growing, and unapologetically inclusive!
Here's how you can continue to show up:
Read About & Share: the 250 RJ orgs, learn about the work being done and who’s doing it.
Champion Reproductive Justice: Dismantle patriarchal systems in your home or at your workplace. Support bodily autonomy for all genders. Challenge silence with solidarity.
Support Our Work — help us grow our listserv by inviting people (specifically targeting men) to join.
The fight continues. Get off the sidelines. Our RJ movement has an open seat for you.
With Love and Action,
Justin Haas & the MERJ Team
📖 3-Minute Power Read, from MERJ Co-Founder George Marx:
October 1, 2025
Jessica Valenti’s “Abortion Every Day” Substack entry from yesterday, September 30, 2025, was titled, “College Students Are Running Underground Birth Control Networks” – and this is just one of multiple writings Valenti wrote/sent out yesterday.
It is obvious that many men care about reproductive justice and access! Some care about their: wives, girlfriends, sisters, mothers, daughters, close friends or similar. Some care about how poor Black and Brown womxn and girls are facing increasingly dangerous and horrible times now. Some care about the increasing political right-wing pushing of “traditional values” on womxn and girls, where men state that women belong in home getting pregnant, married to men, obeying them, etc.
I live in a changing world, where womxn and girls aren’t presumed to be heterosexual, desiring marriage, wanting or “needing to” have children. I recognize that my parents in the 1950’s really in retrospect shouldn’t have had my brother (Daniel Marx 1953-2024) nor me. They really weren’t prepared to “sacrifice” (sic) to have a household which respected us as children, and focused on our basic (emotional) needs beyond ensuring that we had an excellent formal education and that we read a lot.
We Men are Way Behind the Times! We nominally support womxn and girls. We donate money and sign petitions. But our efforts are miniscule in comparison with the problem! But who are “we?” I’m referring to the upper-middle-class men who identify as “liberal” or “radical leftists,” and are usually white men. We range from 18 year old college students to men older than me (I’m 74).
We face very, very dangerous times! Jessica Valenti speaks to an important part of this related to abortion, birth control, birthing of children, and sometimes even unrelated medical care – often in emergency rooms where womxn and girls’ lives are at risk and lost.
Do we not see what is going on? Are we not curious? I do not see more than a small number of men who are actually doing substantive things here!
My goal is not to guilt trip you. I hope that you will “do more”! I hope that you will become curious and act soon.
Womxn-led organizations will welcome your donations and volunteer efforts. And of course, we in MERJ welcome you! Thanks!
🔊👂🏽 Podcast Power Listen, from the podcast “Cocaine & Rhinestones”:
“The Pill: Why Was Loretta Lynn Banned?”
52 minutes
Excerpt: “This episode of Cocaine & Rhinestones briefly examines the history of contraceptive laws in America (Trigger Warning: abortion is discussed) before moving on to uncover the staggering inequality of morality applied to women in country music versus that applied to men in country music. Tyler Mahan Coe takes you on a deep dive of songs banned from radio in the United States, outlining a strong case against the country music establishment's lopsided attitude toward its artists based on their gender. If your mind isn't blown by the evidence laid out here, then it's only because you're jaded, because, on some level, you've always known this is true and grown resigned to it as a reality in this world. Even then, your capacity for amazement may surprise you Recommended if you like: Kitty Wells, Webb Pierce, Jimmie Rodgers, Dixie Chicks, Conway Twitty, KT Oslin, Garth Brooks, Sunday Sharpe, Lorene Mann, Jeannie C. Riley, Hank Thompson and feminism. Also recommended if you don't like: Barbra Streisand.”
The companion blog post for “The Pill” - containing information and links to songs, video clips, books and articles used for the episode - can be found at https://cocaineandrhinestones.com/loretta-lynn-pill-ban.
By Tyler Mahan Coe. Posted October 31, 2017.
💸 Amazing Organization to Support:
WREN is working hard to fight South Carolina’s Senate Bill 323. Lawmakers in South Carolina are fast-tracking S. 323, the most extreme abortion ban South Carolina has ever seen, and one of the worst in the country.
This bill doesn’t just ban abortion. It criminalizes doctors, patients, families, and even friends who share information or support. It threatens contraception, IVF, and miscarriage care. It is an unprecedented attack on healthcare, free speech, and the fundamental freedoms we all rely on.
Here’s what S. 323 would do:
Ban all medication abortion, even its manufacture or possession.
Remove exceptions for rape, incest, and fatal fetal anomaly.
Redefine embryos as full legal persons, threatening contraception, IVF, and miscarriage care.
Impose felony penalties of up to 30 years on providers.
Criminalize helping someone travel out of state for abortion care.
Gag doctors, advocates, and even friends from sharing medical information.
Please consider making a donation to WREN at this critical time for advocacy and protest!
““For more than 25 years, mifepristone has been used safely and effectively in the United States and globally. It is currently the most common method for early-term abortion care in the United States and is the standard of care for managing early miscarriage. The decision to reexamine access to this medication was made in response to a scientifically baseless letter and ignores decades of research that prove mifepristone is safe and effective. Medical decisions should be left between patients, their families, and their providers – and they should be guided by science, not political agendas.
“As state attorneys general, we have a responsibility to enforce state laws and protect our residents, including their access to reproductive care. If access to mifepristone is challenged, we will take action to protect it.
”
Help and Resources to Share with Anyone Needing an Abortion: (from ifwhenhow.org)
Find a local clinic by using the National Abortion Federation map.
If you have questions about your legal rights and self-managed abortion, the Repro Legal Helpline is a free, confidential source for legal advice and information. Visit ReproLegalHelpline.org or call 844-868-2812.
If you are under 18 and need information about your rights to an abortion, you can message or call our Repro Legal Helpline at 844-868-2812. You can also read more about your rights on our Judicial Bypass Wiki.
If you have been arrested, contacted by the police, or fear you may be arrested for a self-managed abortion, our Repro Legal Helpline can provide immediate legal advice and support, and our Repro Legal Defense Fund can help with bail and legal fees. You can call our Repro Legal Helpline at 844-868-2812, and for help with bail and other fees, visit ReproLegalDefenseFund.org.
Medically-reviewed, step-by-step directions for how to self-administer a medication abortion using mifepristone and misoprostol can be found on the Hey Jane website.
