FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Gloria Steinem hosts reproductive health leaders for a Talking Circle that transforms shared hope into coordinated action.
NEW YORK, NY — Against the backdrop of political turbulence and mounting threats to reproductive freedom, leaders from eight independent reproductive health clinics, joined by movement leaders Gloria Steinem and Loretta Ross, gathered in New York City for a Talking Circle, a powerful exchange on protecting care, restoring dignity, and charting a shared path forward for reproductive freedom.
Hosted by the Women’s Health Centers of West Virginia & Maryland, the discussion brought together feminist-founded, women-led, independent organizations from across the nation.
United by their shared commitment to care, courage, and collective action, participants focused on collaboration and hope as strategic tools for progress.
“The future depends entirely on what each of us does every day,” said Gloria Steinem. “A movement is only people moving.”
As a direct outcome of the Talking Circle, the participating clinics have launched a joint ActBlue fundraising campaign under the Care Across Borders banner, a unified effort to sustain independent providers offering abortion and gender-affirming care in communities most impacted by restrictive laws.
“Our clinics have always been the safety net for care when others step back,” said Danielle Maness, Interim Executive Director of the Women’s Health Centers of West Virginia & Maryland. “Coming together in Gloria’s home reminded us that we are not alone, that collaboration is our greatest form of resistance.”
As state bans continue to spread and access to care faces mounting political and financial pressure, these clinics, which collectively serve tens of thousands of patients each year, are building a new model of feminist collaboration rooted in hope and shared strategy.
“The control of women’s bodies has always been the front line of every authoritarian project,” said Reproductive Justice Activist, Loretta Ross during the Talking Circle. “The difference now is that we have each other — across race, across geography, across generations — and that’s what makes me hopeful.”
The joint ActBlue campaign aims to raise $500,000 by year’s end to sustain essential reproductive and gender-affirming care, ensuring that even in dark times, hope becomes a plan and care knows no borders.
Attendees included:
- Gloria Steinem
- Jill Heller, Gloria Steinem Foundation
- Danielle Maness, Interim Executive Director and Medical Director, Women’s Health Center of West Virginia & Maryland
- Ramsie Monk, Development Director, Women’s Health Center of WV & MD
- Kwajelyn Jackson, Executive Director, Feminist Center for Reproductive Liberation
- Jennifer Pepper, President & CEO CHOICES: Center for Reproductive Health
- Aspen Ruhlin, Community Engagement Manager, Mabel Wadsworth Center
- Francine Thompson, Executive Director, Emma Goldman Clinic
- Mercedes Sanchez, Executive Director, Cedar River Clinics
- Dr. DeShawn Taylor, Owner Desert Star Institute for Family Planning
- Katrina Maczen-Cantrell, Executive Director, Women’s Health Specialists
- Nikki Madsen, Co-Executive Director, Abortion Care Network
- Loretta Ross, Reproductive Justice Activist & Academic
- Sarah Sophie Flicker, Culture Organizer, Artist and Creative Director
- Kylie Cheung, Author and Abortion, Everyday Writer
Media Contact:
A.C. Coquillas (they/them)
Feminist Center for Reproductive Liberation
[email protected] | (678) 296-2813
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ABOUT Feminist Center for Reproductive Liberation
Feminist Center for Reproductive Liberation (formerly Feminist Women’s Health Center) is an Atlanta- based nonprofit committed to a vision of accessible reproductive health care for all. To achieve our vision we offer compassionate, affordable reproductive health care, free community programming, and grassroots organizing opportunities.
