With the ongoing fight for Planned Parenthood funding and a woman's right to choose, it can be overwhelming to try to figure out how, exactly, you can help. Well, here's one really great idea: Send Congress your uterus and tell them to GTFO. It'll get the message across loud and clear.
I don't quite mean that literally, but I do mean it figuratively. Send Congress Your Uterus is an online campaign created by Chelsea Kent and Alexa Natanson, the ladies behind the nail wrap subscription service Scratch Nails. Choose from one of three delightfully prickly, uterus-heavy postcard designs, pay $3.50, and have it sent to one of the 305 Congress members who thinks it's both OK and cool to parse a woman's body into parts that she can control, and parts that really should just be regulated by the government because she can't be trusted to make a good decision, you know?
The ladies arrived at the list of those 305 representatives by scouring the supporters of every bill in the current Congress that has attacked a woman's right to choose. The back of each card reads: "Dear Congress member, You're receiving this because your voting patterns have demonstrated to the women of these United States, that you believe you have a right to regulate our bodies. Enjoy the sentiment of this postcard."
If postcards aren't your thing, or you want to do more to proverbially shout from the rooftops that regulating our bodies is a really sh*tty thing to do, here are a few more wonderfully creative ways you can fight for your right to choose.
1. Support Feminist, Pro-Choice Artists
In addition to her beautiful prints, Pacific Northwest-based artist Phoebe Wahl sells "Feminism is Freedom"-bedecked shirts and bags. If you ever wanted to feel like a magical feminist fairy, Phoebe is your gal. In honor of the #IStandWithPP campaign, she recently published a zine entitled "Gray Area," which documents the intense emotional journey of an unexpected pregnancy.
2. Engage in Hashtag Activism
Older generations may scoff at the idea of "hashtag activism," but regardless of how much they moan and roll their eyes at plugged-in Millennials, the fact remains that social media platforms provide an opportunity for individuals to control how they're represented and speak their truths unhindered. Explain the the personal importance of Planned Parenthood with #IStandWithPP, or, if you feel comfortable doing so, #ShoutYourAbortion.
3. Change Your Profile Picture
I think we can all agree that pink is great color, and that the Planned Parenthood pink is, like, an especially great hue. Show your Facebook friends your true colors by changing your profile picture to reflect your stance on a woman's right to choose.
4. Start Your Own Fundraiser
Make buttons, sell vagina cookies, offer handwritten poems of praise — whatever you think might best inspire folks to give a few dollars (or a lot of dollars — always think positive). With the threat of being defunded looming very closely, Planned Parenthood could use your help more than ever. They've even set up a Fearless Fundraiser platform to help you raise money online, along with a database to search individual fundraisers already up and running.
5. Get Crafty
Take some of that free-flowing anger and channel it into creating items that you can wear and make a statement with. Here is a knitting pattern for a "Feminist Killjoy" hat; here is a pattern for a very cute uterus. Make a reusable stencil with a vagina or an IUD or just like an FYI about your body belonging to you. Make a keychain that tells lawmakers exactly where they can put their ideas on what you should do with your uterus.
Images: Send Congress Your Uterus; Phoebe Wahl /Etsy
