As a community-supported public awareness campaign, UnRestrict Minnesota is driven by the solidarity and leadership of its community partners. Together, these advocates, health care providers, lawyers, union members, artists, and concerned citizens are advancing every Minnesotan’s right to access abortion care in our state.
Founded in 2015, Abortion Access Front (AAF) is a collective of comedians, activists, writers, and producers using humor and multimedia to expand access to abortion, dismantle barriers to reproductive health care, and resist misinformation pushed by extremist anti-choice groups across the country.
Q&A
Below, Kristin Hady, Programs Manager at AAF, shares more about the collective’s work to destigmatize abortion, the role that humor and creativity can play in inspiring culture change, and the importance of coalition-building to further reproductive justice in Minnesota and beyond.
Could you tell us a little bit about your organization?
Abortion Access Front is a nonprofit made up of comedians, writers, and activists who use humor to destigmatize abortion and call out the extremists working to destroy access to reproductive health care in all fifty states. We focus on independent clinic support, direct action, community organizing, exposing fake clinics, and our Feminist Buzzkills! podcast.
Why is this work important to take on in Minnesota?
It is always important to not take abortion wins for granted and continue to push for increased abortion access and support. Keeping supporters engaged and mobilized is necessary to not only maintain momentum but push even further to ensure abortion access for both Minnesotans and abortion seekers from states all across the country.
Why did you join the UnRestrict Minnesota coalition?
We joined UnRestrict because the foundations of our work are rooted in Minnesota. Lizz (Winstead, AAF founder and chief creative officer) was born and raised in Minnesota and is currently a part-time resident of the state. Lizz serves on the board of Whole Woman’s Health Alliance (another member of the UnRestrict Minnesota coalition), and we have been working in coalition for years with Minnesota-based organizations working towards equitable, comprehensive access to abortion care and other kinds of reproductive health care.
What is your vision for achieving full reproductive justice in Minnesota; or, what does achieving full reproductive justice in Minnesota mean to you?
Our vision is to expand our provocative culture change work to help recenter the people most affected by the erosion of reproductive access, to inspire inactive folks to take action, to destigmatize abortion, and to help folks reframe their own narratives around abortion and reproductive health care. Our work emphasizes that true reproductive justice means valuing and supporting all pregnancy outcomes, and we want to work toward creative programs that help create that culture shift. We love building partnerships that work to expand access to abortion care through a reproductive justice lens: especially in a state committed to doing so, and where we have close ties.
How can people get engaged with your work?
People can engage with AAF’s work in so many different ways! We release a weekly podcast, Feminist Buzzkills!, where we break down the issues and provide tangible ways to take action. People can follow our socials @AbortionFront. If you’re looking to get involved in the fight, check out our program Operation Save Abortion to find reproductive justice and pro-abortion events across the country, our Activist Toolkit to help create the change you want to see, our website Expose Fake Clinics to learn about the dangers of anti-abortion centers, and sign up to learn about more volunteering opportunities with AAF!