Hi!

Because we have access to EC.

We mean not that people have a right to access EC, or that they theoretically could, but that EVERY person can really access EC.

This means that EC is affordable, if not free. It is available conveniently in people’s communities. Is available to everyone regardless of age. It is available without judgment, gatekeeping, or stigma.

It also means that people have information about EC that is culturally relevant and understandable. 

We also believe that all forms of EC should be equally accessible to people, including Ulipristal Acetate (Ella) and IUDs. This also means that continued research is needed to ensure EC is available to everyone, regardless of weight. 

Having access to other contraceptive and reproductive health options allows people to be able to make decisions about EC, not be forced to use it because it is the only option they have. 

All people must be able to access the reproductive healthcare that they need, including freely accessing the full spectrum of contraceptive options. This means not only that these options exist, but that people can truly access them, whether it is being able to afford them, having the knowledge about them, or accessing providers that treat them with dignity. This includes access regardless of insurance, employment, and/or immigration status.

This also means that people can freely access abortion care. We strongly believe in advocating for access to EC that does not stigmatize or threaten access to abortion. We know that only we can make the best decisions for ourselves.

We know that many people turn to EC because it is available without a provider visit. We also know that there are other forms of reproductive healthcare that are unduly restricted, not because people cannot safely use them, but because of anti-choice forces and stigma. 

Because we can choose not to use EC and have the children we want to have. If we cannot choose to continue a pregnancy and grow our families if we want, then it isn’t really a choice to use EC. 

At EC 4 DC, we believe that all people should have the resources to parent their children in their communities. This also means that people can keep the children that they have and have children free from the fear that they will be removed from them because they are Black, poor, disabled, immigrants, or otherwise marginalized.

We also cannot have the children we want to have if we have been forcibly or involuntarily sterilized. This requires an end to eugenic policies that allow the state to make decisions about people’s reproductive future and who can and cannot be a parent. It also requires an end to policies that coerce people into sterilization in order to receive lesser sentences, to receive meager benefits, or keep the children they have.

We believe in this not just for people in the US, but around the world which necessitates an end to US imperialism and colonial violence. This also means sovereignty for indigenous people and native nations who have faced reproductive coercion and genocide at the hands of settler colonists in what is called the United States.

Being able to make decisions about using EC also means that we are able to make decisions about having sex and how we want to have sex. 

At EC 4 DC we know that the so-called criminal “justice” system and carceral approaches do not work to prevent sexual and gender based violence nor do they promote true justice and healing for survivors. To build a world that is free from sexual violence we must also end to state violence that goes hand in hand with and exacerbates interpersonal gender based violence. 

In order to live in a world without sexual and gender based violence, we must end rape culture and the political systems that enable it.

As an organization rooted in abolitionist values, we know criminalization doesn’t make us safer, and this extends to sex work. Criminalizing sex work does not bring us closer to a world free from sexual violence but instead posits a carceral solution that harms the very people it claims to want to protect.

Stigma around using EC is rooted in stigma around sex, pleasure, and exercising one’s bodily autonomy. Therefore in a world where we can freely use, or not use, EC we must also freely be able to exercise our right to bodily autonomy. 

At EC 4 DC, we know that stigma around EC use and all reproductive health choices stems from the same puritanical values that threaten queer and trans individuals. The fight for widely accessible and stigma-free EC is inextricably linked to the fight for queer and trans liberation.