Conversation Guide for Discussing Abortion Rights

Get the facts before you take on talking about abortion with your peers.

May 9, 2023 - 8:30am

No one should be forced to carry a pregnancy against their will and face the life-altering consequences of being denied essential health care.

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People don’t like to talk about abortion.

It’s too impolite or too political. Too full of partisan talking points or too divisive. That’s Midwest Nice for you, right?

But if we want to change the political landscape around abortion in South Dakota, that’s got to change. With abortion access left to the political process, those of us who care about reproductive freedom have to get engaged. We have to start talking.

There’s a lot of incorrect information, misinformation, and even disinformation about abortion. Politicians and anti-abortion activists use this misinformation to twist the narrative about this very common, very safe medical procedure.

That’s where you come in. It takes more than one conversation to, but a real-life, two-way conversation is the best place to start.

On this page, we share a handy reference guide on this timely issue — full of the quick, crucial facts on abortion rights you’ll want to be equipped with if it comes up at your dinner table.

Be sure to bookmark this resource and share it with your peers so they can keep the conversation going, too.

The fight for reproductive freedom in South Dakota isn't over.

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Let's talk about abortion

Inform your discussion.

Start with the facts.

Abortion is overwhelmingly safe
The right to abortion is supported by an overwhelming majority of Americans.
Abortion is common. One in four women who are able to get pregnant will have an abortion at some point.
Abortion is essential health care, a constitutional right, and a human right.
While it has been a legal right for five decades, almost since the beginning politicians have passed laws that push abortion out of reach. The impact of those policies fall disproportionately on those struggling financially, Black, Indigenous, and people of color, undocumented people, young people, and LGBTQ people.
Black, Indigenous, and other people of color do not have equal access to health care, from abortion to prenatal care to preventive care. Their concerns are often ignored or not taken seriously. They have worse outcomes for COVID-related health issues, higher rates of maternal and infant death, and are more likely to be investigated, prosecuted, and punished for their pregnancy outcomes.
Some people have the resources to overcome the obstacles imposed by anti-abortion laws, but people with low incomes, young people and undocumented people are more likely to be forced to continue a pregnancy even if that’s not the outcome they want.

Reproductive freedom is for all of us.

Abortion should be accessible to everyone.

When it comes to discussing abortion access, the focus should remain centered on the people who need, or will need, this critical care — and the direct harm forced pregnancy places on lives.
Despite how anti-abortion politicians may frame it, forced pregnancy is not some political talking point: Forced pregnancy is taking away a person’s constitutional and human right to control their body and their future.
Denying someone abortion care has devastating and lasting consequences for the pregnant person — it can jeopardize their health, economic well-being and ability to determine their own future, for not only themselves but their family.

This is about bodily autonomy.

No one should be forced to carry a pregnancy.

Forced Pregnancy laws include:

All bans on abortion
Medically unnecessary restrictions designed to shut down clinics so that people have to travel further to get abortion care
Creating medically unnecessary hoops to jump through in order to discourage and block people from getting an abortion
Laws that require insurance plans to exclude abortion coverage
Laws designed to run out the clock that force people to delay their abortion care
Medically unnecessary laws that increase the cost of care but do nothing to increase patient safety
Denying people under 18 years of age access to confidential care by requiring the consent of others

Abortion access for all means ALL.

Everyone should have access to abortion regardless of their zip code.

Restrictions on abortion care directly impact transgender men and nonbinary people — and we’re fighting to protect the reproductive freedom of everyone who can get pregnant.
These attacks show anti-abortion politicians’ true agenda: To push abortion out of reach, shut down clinics, and criminalize patients and health care providers.