From Advocacy to Action: CARD’s Summer for Reproductive Rights

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From CARD, Care and Action for Reproductive Dignity

Over the summer, CARD members engaged in actions to support reproductive and gender-affirming healthcare here in Portland and in another state.  

Ohio’s Republican legislators hoped to block a proposed change to the Ohio constitution by hastily organizing a single-issue vote when many voters may not be paying attention to spur-of-the-moment summer elections. If approved, the Republicans’ measure would have raised the bar for adopting a new amendment to the State’s constitution to a 60% majority vote from a simple majority (over 50%).  

VoteRiders ran a get-out-the-vote texting campaign, and some CARD members participated in this electoral activism. Fortunately, many Ohioans were paying attention, and this proposed change to the rules for passing new state constitutional amendments was resoundingly defeated!  The proposed amendment to protect rights to reproductive choice will be on the November ballot, and polls suggest that most Ohioans will support a constitutional guarantee of access to abortion and other reproductive health care. 

Closer to home, CARD member Georgia Wier spearheaded writing a letter to the editor of the Oregonian in response to the Richmond OHSU Family Center receiving a bomb threat. A prospective patient objected to the clinic providing care for trans patients. For details of the incident, see the link below.

Bomb threat shuts down OHSU clinic after anti-trans information posted online.A bomb threat against Oregon Health and Science University is the latest in a string of attacks and harassment against healthcare facilities, spurred by far-right culture war issues and COVID conspiracies.www.opb.org

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The letter has yet to be sent, but Georgia was able to hand deliver a thank you card signed by the CARD group and chocolates to the clinic employees. Georgia reported that the clinic employees warmly received the card and candy and were surprised and interested to learn that our church supports reproductive dignity and gender-affirming healthcare. 

Our social justice group welcomes new participants and those who want to learn about our goals and action priorities. Our first meeting in the new church year will be in the Fireside Room on September 24 at 12:15. We invite you to join us – much work is still to be done!