by Debra Hauser, Executive Vice President

1 in 3 women will have an abortion in her lifetime, but we almost never talk about it. Not really. We may talk about abortion as an “issue,” but too often we remain silent about our own personal experiences. 

We have all been frustrated by the unprecedented legislative and cultural attacks on abortion access, and we wanted to figure out a new way to organize, proactively and on our own terms. So, Advocates for Youth began working with Choice USA and Spiritual Youth for Reproductive Freedom to form a new campaign to destigmatize women’s experiences with abortion and protect access to this basic health care service. 

It starts by sharing our stories.

Today, we are launching the 1 in 3 Campaign – and we are asking you to join us. The 1 in 3 Campaign is a grassroots movement to start a new conversation about abortion – telling our stories, on our own terms. 

Will you take 3 minutes to listen to mine?

By Advocates Staff

As awards season begins (congrats, Modern Family!), Advocates is delighted to announce two winners in our own activism family.

Danny of the Ohio Advocates, a part of the Cultural Advocacy and Mobilization Initiative with partner organization AIDS Taskforce of Greater Cleveland, received the Choice USA Excellence in Leadership Award.  Danny was a driving force behind eliminating abstinence-only programs from Parma's schools, and with the Ohio Advocates is active in many other initiatives to help protect the sexual health and rights of Ohio's young people.

Urooj Arshad, Associate Director, Racial/Ethnic Disparities and Social Justice at Advocates for Youth, has been named an honoree at the Young Women of Color HIV/AIDS Coalition We Speak Awards.  The We Speak Awards recognize individuals and agencies in various sectors – non-profit, philanthropy, for-profit that support leadership development and HIV prevention for young women of color.

Congratulations to Urooj and Danny - it's great to see your hard work recognized!

by Emily Bridges, Director, Public Information Services

Last weekend, over 130 young people from 24 states and five countries converged on the District of Columbia for an amazing weekend of training, sharing our experiences, and educating our legislators.  And it was an inspiring and moving experience for young people and staff alike!

Young people from MySistahs/YWOCLC, YouthResource, CAMI, iYSO, Contraceptive Access YANs, and IYLC, and newcomers iGLBTQ (international youth leaders working on LGBT issues) were immersed in trainings in their program work, with returning youth co-leading many trainings.  Youth also had the opportunity to create and lead trainings, and shared their expertise on topics as diverse as creative organizing; sexuality and disability; inclusive sex education; and LGBT activism.

by Emily Bridges, Director, Public Information Services

Every year around the beginning of school, Beloit College releases its  notorious “mindset list” : statements that describe cultural realities for entering freshmen. The statements, like this year’s “The Communist Party has never been the official political party in Russia” or “Men have always been Martians, women, Venusians” remind older folks of how times have changed – or not.

In the spirit of Beloit’s work, I’ve compiled a few facts about reproductive and sexual health that have always been true for young people starting college this year (the class of 2015). Some are good news, while in other areas, there’s still some work to be done.

If you are an entering freshman, what would you add to the list? How have these realities shaped your perceptions?

 - All federal funding for sex education in public schools, throughout their education, went to abstinence-only-until-marriage programs, which taught that “sexual activity outside the context of marriage is likely to have harmful psychological and physical side effects.”  Source

 - There have always been very famous, well-loved, openly gay, lesbian, and bisexual people. 

 - Films with excessive nudity, violence, or swearing have always been rated NC-17, not X.

 - From their birth to their senior year of high school, people in the military who are LGBT faced discharge if they were found out.  

 - RU-486 has always provided women with a medication option for abortion.