The backstory:
“The ability to decide if, when, and how someone has children is a fundamental right – and one that’s inextricably linked with positive mental health outcomes, economic stability, and overall well-being. The advent of medication abortion in the 1980s – paired with recent technological advancements – means that we now have safe and effective abortion pills that put the power back in people’s hands, and ways to virtually connect with patients to give them high-quality medical and emotional support, no matter where they are.”
Hey Jane Abortion is healthcare and abortion is common. Approximately one in five people capable of getting pregnant will have an abortion by age 30, and one in four by age 45. Without affordable access to safe medication abortion, women’s health and lives are at risk. There are a vast number of reasons why those who have a womb may require an abortion. However, there’s not enough widespread understanding of how and why people need access to abortion, or the repercussions of a lack of access. Globally, awareness of medication abortion is low. Without accurate information, many people don’t realise the benefits that abortions can afford wider society, not least in decreasing maternal deaths. With opinion on abortion reaching into every facet of life, from social to economical to political, it is vital to improve education in this space. We need to normalise this conversation and position medication abortion as healthcare. In recent times there have been swathes of campaigns online to bring this agenda to the table, but they often act within an echo chamber of those already in the know. The Case for Her, a philanthropic investment portfolio addressing key women’s health issues, is teaming up with Hey Jane, a US-based virtual clinic providing support and medical abortion access, to bring this topic to the forefront. Your job is to create a shareable educational campaign to reach the people that matter, and help everyone learn why abortion is healthcare.
What’s the challenge?
Create a campaign that builds a movement to reframe abortion as an essential right and routine procedure that is embedded in women’s health. Your response should be grounded in a solid research base, show fresh thinking, and not replicate what has been done before. You should focus your response in your local region to address issues specific to your area, however you can include examples of how your idea could create a halo effect and scale to other regions. Where your response lives is up to you, but you should consider spaces with shareability, that allow audiences to create two-way conversations to further scale the movement, for example social media.
