Chicago, IL — Personal PAC, Men4Choice, and Future Voices Council have launched Jane's Army — a joint campaign to recruit activist volunteers to educate, motivate, and activate pro-choice voters ahead of the critical 2022 election. This volunteer army will be deployed on the ground in targeted races across Illinois to hold extremist anti-choice candidates and politicians accountable for their radical agendas.
Jane's Army pays tribute to the original Jane Collective, a group of women who banded together in Chicago to provide access to reproductive health care from 1969-1973 when dangerous abortion bans were still in place during the pre-Roe era. "Times have changed, but the fight hasn't. We need a new generation to step up in Illinois and carry on Jane's fight to protect abortion rights in the post-Roe era we are facing now," said Hannah Fierle, Co-Chair of Future Voices Council and Jane's Army.
"If right-wing politicians think they are going to hide from their dangerous decision to make abortion illegal, even in cases of rape and incest, end access to birth control & IVF treatments, and enact Texas-style bans to harass and criminalize women, doctors, and family members who help someone get medical care, they are sadly mistaken," said Chloe Sacks, Co-Chair of Future Voices Council and Jane's Army.
The 2022 election will have consequences for the next fifty years and has unleashed anti-choice challengers for Governor, the Illinois General Assembly, and Illinois Supreme Court. The two Illinois Supreme Court races will either threaten or affirm all of the progress the pro-choice movement has made over the past few decades, and the 2022 election will determine the fate of legal abortion in the post-Roe era for generations to come. This election is profoundly important for the future of reproductive freedom in the Midwest.
Anti-choice leaders in the Illinois House and Senate have currently filed 22 bills aimed at stripping the people of Illinois of the right to make a broad range of reproductive health care decisions privately and in consultation with their doctors, families, and whomever they choose to involve. Anti-choice activists have filed numerous lawsuits in Illinois' courts, including the Illinois Supreme Court, seeking to overturn legal protections the people of Illinois count on to make their health care decisions for themselves.
"Make no mistake, the Illinois anti-abortion movement's goal is to ban and criminalize abortion. That's why we're embarking on a massive effort to mobilize advocates and allies to stand up to anti-choice bullies. We will not allow Illinois to become Texas, Mississippi, Alabama, or any other state that is attempting to control women or put people's health and lives at risk in order to bow to a dangerous right-wing agenda," said Oren Jacobson, Co-Executive Director of Men4Choice and Co-Chair of Jane's Army.
"With Donald Trump's U.S. Supreme Court poised to overturn the 50 year precedent that abortion should be a private decision, as well as protecting the most commonly used forms of birth control, the time is now to take the pro-choice message personally to the doors, streets, and phones of voters across Illinois. Jane's Army believes it can fight back, and win in Illinois," said Grace Barter, Co-Chair of Jane's Army and Personal PAC Campaign Organizer.
About the collaboration:
Future Voices Council brings together young people who are committed to protecting reproductive rights and electing pro-choice candidates in Illinois. Council members believe that everyone in Illinois should have access to abortion and birth control, and are active in supporting candidates who share that belief. Our 2022 campaign leaders are Hannah Fierle and Chloe Sacks, Co-Chairs of Future Voices Council.
Men4Choice works to unconditionally support the women and impacted individuals leading this movement by activating, educating, and mobilizing male allies into the fight to protect and expand reproductive freedom. Men4Choice was founded to activate, educate, and mobilize male allies into the fight as active partners and allies. Our 2022 campaign leaders are Oren Jacobson and Ben Head, co-founders of Men4Choice.
Personal PAC is a nonpartisan political action committee dedicated to protecting and advancing reproductive rights for all by recruiting, electing, and holding accountable pro-choice candidates to state and local office in Illinois. Our 2022 campaign leader is Grace Barter, Campaign & Events Organizer at Personal PAC.
If you'd like to help in the fight against anti-choice extremism, please take the pledge to support a #ProChoice2022 today! Join the fight here: www.JanesArmy2022.com .
To view the list of "The Top 10 Worst Things About the Anti-Choice Movement," click here: janesarmy2022.com/top-ten. For more information about the campaign or how to get involved, please contact JanesArmy2022@gmail.com .
