No Choice: A World Without Roe
Starts: Saturday, Aug. 4 10:00 AM (Eastern)
Ends: Saturday, Aug. 4 11:15 AM (Eastern)
Without Justice Kennedy on the court what will happen to Roe v. Wade? Before that landmark decision women were at the mercy of state power if they sought to end an unwanted pregnancy. Abortions were illegal, traumatic, and dangerous; many women died, many were injured for life. Join us for a panel discussion on abortion and screen NO CHOICE, a series of short video portraits. Hear what it was like to seek an abortion prior to Roe v. Wade. Learn from the experiences of a doctor who treated women in the ER from incomplete or botched abortions. Discover how states today are denying access to care due to geography, wait times, intimidation by protestors, financial barriers and other reasons. What would America be like if Roe v. Wade were overturned? Come, watch and discuss—and when you return home, find out how reproductive rights are restricted in your state and how your US senators will vote in the upcoming hearings for a new Supreme Court justice. Coffee and pastries provided.
Moderator
Melissa Harris-Perry
Professor Melissa Harris-Perry is the Angelou Presidential Chair at Wake Forest
University. There she is founding director of the Anna Julia Cooper Center and co-director of Wake the Vote.
Melissa is editor-at-large of Elle.com and a contributing editor at The Nation. Along with Dorian Warren, Harris-Perry is principal and co-host of Freedom on Tap, an independent media project combining live events, digital, and audio content. From 2012-2016 she hosted the television show “Melissa Harris-Perry” on weekend mornings on MSNBC and was awarded the Hillman Prize for broadcast journalism.
She is an award-winning author and sought after public speaker, lecturing widely throughout the United States and abroad. Harris-Perry received her B.A. degree in English from Wake Forest University and her Ph.D. degree in political science from Duke University. She also studied theology at Union Theological Seminary in New York. Harris-Perry previously served on the faculty of the University of Chicago, Princeton University, and Tulane University. Professor Harris-Perry has been awarded honorary degrees from many universities including Meadville Lombard Theological School, Winston-Salem State University, Eckerd College, and New York University.
Panelists
Carmen Berkley
Carmen Berkley currently serves as the Managing Director for Planned Parenthood Action Fund. Over 15 years of experience, Carmen has served as the President of the United States Student Association, Field Director at NAACP and Choice USA, Digital Strategist at AFSCME, Executive Director at the Generational Alliance, and most recently Director of Civil, Human and Women’s Rights at the AFL-CIO, where she led an effort to develop a racial justice and criminal justice platform for the labor movement, and la large scale effort to build the electoral capacity of people of color and women. Carmen is the a co-host and producer on WPFW FM, shes been seen as a political commentator on MTV and TVOne, and she is frequently quoted and writes for magazines and blogs. She is on the Board of Directors for Congressional Black Caucus Institute, Advocates for Youth and the League of Young Voters.
Amy Irvin
AMY IRVIN is the executive director of the New Orleans Abortion Fund, and served as the first intake coordinator. She has worked at abortion clinics in New Orleans and Atlanta, and was recognized as the Volunteer of the Year by Planned Parenthood of Kentucky in 2006. She earned her Master of Science in Social Work at the University of Louisville where she researched the impact of parental consent laws for minors at the ACLU of Kentucky Reproductive Freedom Project, and a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy from Agnes Scott College. She has also worked with the International Rescue Committee, and is a former union organizer with the United Food and Commercial Workers in Arizona and Indiana.
Erin Matson
Erin Matson is Co-Founder and Co-Director of Reproaction. A longtime organizer, writer, and leader for women’s equality, she previously served as Action Vice President of the National Organization for Women as well as Editor at Large for Rewire. She lives in Arlington, Virginia, and serves on the board of NARAL Pro-Choice Virginia Foundation.
Other sessions: Progressive Parenting
Aimee Thorne-Thompson
AIMEE THORNE-THOMSEN is a long-time activist whose work has focused on supporting young people to develop their skills and leadership around the reproductive health, rights and justice issues that most affect their lives. Currently, she is the Vice President of Strategic Partnerships of Advocates for Youth, where she oversees and coordinates the development, implementation and evaluation of Advocates’ strategic partnerships with youth activists and organizations in allied social justice movements. Prior to joining the Advocates staff, she was Interim Executive Director of the Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice and Executive Director of the Pro-Choice Public Education Project (PEP). She is the Co-Chair of the Board of Directors of SisterSong Women of Color Reproductive Justice Collective and Chair of the Board of Directors for Power California.