MERJ Newsletter 5/3/2026
MERJ Co-Founder Justin (T-shirt source)
A letter from MERJ’s co-founder
A Small Victory Amidst an Alarming Moment for Abortion Access
Dear MERJ Community,
First, the good news. For Sexual Assault Awareness Month, MERJ and I set out to see if we could raise $10,000 for reproductive justice and violence prevention organizations. We emailed, called, and texted over 100 men to step up to the funding challenge and we exceeded our goal. Over 80 men donated, and we raised over $10k for a variety of organizations, including NYC Anti-Violence Project, SafeBAE, New Mexico Women, Patient Forward, Colorado Doula Project, and the Washington Area Clinic Defense Task Force, among others!
Now for the insult before the injury:
The Fifth Circuit of Appeals, siding with Louisiana’s conservative Attorney General Liz Murrill, just delivered the most significant attack on abortion access since the end of Roe v. Wade. The decision temporarily blocks the FDA rule allowing mifepristone—one of the two drugs (misoprostol and mifepristone) used in medication abortion—to be prescribed via telehealth without an in-person visit. The impact of this decision should not be underestimated; telehealth currently accounts for nearly 30% of abortions in the U.S., and plays a critical role in states where abortion is banned.
Louisiana v. FDA threatens to disrupt care for thousands.
This moment has real implications not just for birthing people, but for the men who care about and for them—partners, spouses, brothers, sons, and friends. When access becomes more complicated, men can, and must, become part of the support system that helps navigate legally complex situations. This support can look like:
Assisting a partner traveling long distances for care
Covering unexpected costs
Managing childcare
Supporting someone through a longer, more physically-taxing misoprostol-only abortion process
It also means confronting uncertainty. People can be unsure of what is legal. This confusion can delay care or prevent someone from seeking it altogether. For men in caregiving roles, being informed becomes essential.
At a broader level, this ruling intensifies the sounding of the reproductive justice alarm bells. MERJ is working against the shift toward national restrictions driven by individual states. We must be aware of the prevailing strategy in the anti-abortion playbook: both limiting access directly, and also creating enough confusion that people stop seeking care altogether.
All is not lost!
Despite the ruling, access to abortion pills has not disappeared. Patients can still legally obtain a misoprostol-only regimen which is 80% effective. (See below!) Furthermore, providers operating under state-level protections are choosing to still send both misoprostol and mifepristone by mail. Understanding that obtaining and using abortion pills remains legal is not just a technical detail—it’s the difference between acting with confidence and hesitating in a critical moment.
In this environment, accurate information, steady support, and community awareness are more important than ever—especially for those stepping up to care for the people they love.
If you have ordered abortion pills, you’ve done nothing illegal or wrong. And if you need abortion pills now, they are still available. Trusted resources like Plan C Pills or I Need An A can connect you to safe, legitimate options right away.
In solidarity,
The MERJ Team
📖 9 Minute Power Read from the Buffalo (WY) Bulletin:
“Judge partially blocks 2026 Wyoming abortion ban, halting enforcement of most restrictive provisions”
Small excerpt: “Two days after a hearing on abortion advocates’ request to temporarily block Wyoming’s latest abortion ban, Natrona County District Court Judge Daniel Forgey granted the plaintiffs’ motion—partially. The Friday order, provided to the Star-Tribune by an attorney involved in the case, partially grants the motion for a temporary restraining order and blocks enforcement of eight sections of the statute. Those eight sections cover the entirety of article four of HB 126, titled the Human Heartbeat Act, which was passed by the Wyoming Legislature this year.”
🎥🍿 Power Watch Recommendation:
Video interview, 2026 (1 hour)
From the linked description on the Abortion, Every Day website: “Dr. Sella shared so much wisdom tonight, but I think what will stick with me most is her call to move beyond a ‘hierarchy of desperation’ when it comes to later abortion care: ‘We must realize that gestational limits are arbitrary and do not reflect the reality of women’s lives. We must understand that accepting any gestational limit is a slippery slope to the total bans we’re seeing in an increasing number of states.’”
💸 Amazing Organization to Support:
The Center for Reproductive Rights is a 501(c)3 nonprofit who has been in the news regularly in recent weeks and months. From their website: “Reproductive rights are under coordinated attack, and we're not backing down. With your committed support, the Center is fighting back on every front. We've just filed new FOIA requests to expose how pregnant women are being treated in ICE detention centers. We just had a major victory in Arizona, permanently blocking abortion restrictions. And in Texas, we're defending the first provider to be sued under the state's dangerous ‘bounty hunter’ law.”
Please donate to support their important and inspiring non-profit work!
📚 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!
Complicit: How Our Culture Enables Misbehaving Men
by Reah Bravo
Originally published March 7, 2023; notes below from Talking Leaves Books web page.
Part cultural study, part call to action, this thoroughly researched and deeply personal examination of white-collar work in America’s hyper-individualistic, patriarchal society will change the way you think about sexual misconduct and workplace abuse.
When Reah Bravo began working at the Charlie Rose show, she wasn’t deterred by the open secret of Rose’s misbehavior toward his female staff. Believing herself capable of handling anything unprofessional that might come her way, she soon learned a devastating truth: we don’t always react to abusive situations as we imagine we would. In fact, today she considers herself both a victim and an enabler of Rose.
Weaving her own experience with that of other women and insights from experts, Bravo reveals the psychological and social forces that make us all enablers of a dangerous, sexist status quo—regardless of our good intentions or feminist ideals.
Complicit shows that the path to a better, more equitable society begins with cultivating the self-awareness and mindfulness necessary to act against our cultural conditioning.
Birthing Liberation: How Reproductive Justice Can Set Us Free
by Sabia Wade, “The Black Doula”
Originally published March 7, 2023; notes below from Bookshop.org page.
Birthing Liberation presents reproductive justice as the pathway to equity and the birthplace of liberation.
Sabia C. Wade, renowned radical doula and educator, speaks to the intersections of systemic issues--such as access to health care, house transportation, and nutrition--and personal trauma work that, if healed, have the power to lead us to collective liberation in all facets of life.
Collective liberation rests on the idea that in order for us all to have equity in this world--from the safety of childbirth, to the ability to bring a baby home to a safe community, to having access to resources, safety, and opportunities over the long term--we must all become liberated individuals.
Birthing Liberation creates a path to social and systemic change, starting within the birthing world and expanding far beyond.
Other books we’ve read, and strongly recommend:
Men and Abortion: Lessons, Losses, and Love, by Arthur B. Shostak, Lynn Seng, and Gary McLouth
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
“Abolition of a woman’s right to abortion, when and if she wants it, amounts to compulsory maternity: a form of rape by the State.”
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.
