The Supreme Court followed the dangerous pattern of local and state extremists across the country by taking away your right to abortion and betraying decades of legal precedent, setting one of our fundamental rights way, way back. The Court's majority has for the first time obliterated a constitutional right and stolen the ability to control our bodies, lives, and futures.
At a time when even the word abortion remains stigmatized, we knew we had to create a campaign that was centered around this word and the care and freedom it can provide. Abortion should always be accessible for whoever wants one. Abortion is always health care. Abortion has always been fundamental to our freedom. Abortion will always be necessary. And we will always fight for abortion.
We understood the need to show up in support of abortion rights and making this the end of these extreme attacks. Our call to action was to bring together the general public, corporate stakeholders, patients, doctors, and advocates across social justice movements, to unite against the nation and statewide bans against care, and continued assault on our rights.
We used our NWLC branded guidelines to create a bold and striking, cohesive campaign to reenergize public spirit and emote the seriousness of the moment - but the joy that can come from being able to make your own decisions about your health care, and joining your community in this movement. They will not win—we will not let them.
At the fall of Roe v. Wade, we knew we had to take urgent action to, 1) inform people against harmful misinformation and attempts to stigmatize care by anti-abortion extremists, 2) show support for people seeking care - and future patients, because people will always be seeking care, and 3) highlight the National Women's Law Center as the go-to organization for resources on abortion including data, calls to action, legal expertise, current legislation and local partners, and narrative/messaging guidance.
We needed a wholistic campaign to meet this critical moment and so Abortion Always was created. The name drew inspiration from our shared vision for a world where basic health care and bodily autonomy is safe and secure, and affirms the simple fact that people will always need and seek abortion care - whether or not the Court affirms that.
At every phase of our ongoing campaign, we utilized every tool in the toolbox - from influencer engagement to organic content to branded content and merchandise to press and media strategy.
We had a consistent drumbeat of organic content that aligned with creator-driven content which coincided with our external outreach to partners and advocates to increase our brand visibility throughout the campaign, and beyond.
A big moment in our campaign was the rally we hosted outside the Supreme Court during the hearings for the case that would decide the future for emergency abortion care - 23-726 Moyle v. United States. We chose messaging that was uncharted and bold for the abortion rights movement - abortion saves lives. Too often, anti-abortion extremists use "life" as a catchphrase for their cause and create a false narrative that abortion is anti-life, when in fact, every day it saves lives. We chose a phrase for our signage that flipped the mainstream narrative on its head by telling a simple but powerful truth.
We created thousands of pieces of public giveaway rally materials, including:
Digitally, we livestreamed the event, and shared eyecatching social content across Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, Facebook, YouTube, and LinkedIn platforms, and provided on-the-ground, rapid social content connecting advocates and legal experts for realtime responses to the hearings, while staying on trend. We also engaged influencers to promote the rally and dispell misinformation about the case.
We had a robust email and SMS program to invite attendees, bring together supporters in-person and online, and raise awareness. We grew the audience with a paid ad campaign, as well.
A challenge we faced was conveying how important this case was. The outcome would impact the lives of millions of people, but it's hard to get the everyday person to care about a legal case amidst nonstop bans across the country on reproductive care. We had to cut through the noise and make a campaign be accessible and relevant to all.
On Instagram, we had over 3000 interactions and 46,000 impressions. On TikTok, we had over 9000 impressions and 900 comments. We had 6,472 Abortion Always website page views, 5,191 users, 20,449 events (includes clicks, scrolls, etc.), 76 people opted in to SMS at the rally from the keyword on our signs.
Photographs from the rally featuring our art, posters, tshirts, and other messaging and signage were featured in publications including the New York Times, the Washington Post, NPR, Bloomberg, Ms Magazine, the Washingtonian, and more. We had over 30 speakers, including civil rights leaders, doctors, lawyers, and people who had personal abortion stories.
Our free, giveaway merchandise and signage was so popular that we decided to launch an online store: https://nwlcshop.org/?ms=hompage
We believe, most importantly, we fostered community and destigmatized abortion with our audiences, frequently recieving messages from patients and allies saying they feel seen and supported.
