If You Don't Consent, Say "NO"!
In 1858, Ernestine Rose addressed a "Free Convention" in Rutland, Vermont. Especially concerned about women's participation, she declared that if they did not speak out, "Silence implies consent. It is high time the ladies learned to say No. Therefore if you mean yes, say yes; and if you mean no, say no; though you find yourself in a minority of one."
Rose was more isolated in her day than we are in ours. As both the president- and vice president-elect proclaim that they want to reverse Roe v. Wade, prevent funding for contraception much less abortion, and urge states to require "burials" for miscarriages and abortions, it is time for us to say NO! There are a number of ways to do this. Give donations to Planned Parenthood, NARAL, the Center for Reproductive Rights, or NOW. Many have done so in Mike Pence's name. Join the Women's Marches around the nation on the day after inauguration, January 21, 2017. I'll be in the New York one, which assembles at noon at Union Square and will march up 5th Avenue to Trump Tower. Write your representatives, and here actual letters and phone calls are more effective than emails or digital petitions. We can affect political decisions that will shape women's lives. Outlawing abortions does not mean the end of abortions, it just means the end of safe abortions. Do we want women to die as they did before Roe v. Wade? If you mean "no," say NO!