Abortion Academy with SYA

Welcome to SYA’s Abortion Academy series, where each month we’ll hear from a different abortion expert. Together we’ll take deeper dives into more nuanced topics, help connect the dots between issues many of us are navigating regionally and what’s happening at the national and global level, and give you fresh ideas to take back into your community.

Session 25 | Migrantes Unidos with Marìa Torres Wedding 08/22/2025

Session 25 | Migrantes Unidos with Marìa Torres Wedding María Torres Wedding, creator and director of Migrantes Unidos, will discuss their vital work with us, including how they design impactful community projects slowly and intentionally and how they create mutually beneficial relationships and use interdisciplinary approaches to build trust, shared learning, and people power. Migrantes Unidos is an amazing group who works to end the surveillance of immigrant communities in the US, and empower those living under surveillance to build networks of support. This is our first Abortion Academy that doesn’t have a repro focus, and that is intentional—we are very interested in building across movements, and the administration’s attacks on immigrant communities (who are of course, also people who have abortions) demand our attention. SYA feels deeply inspired by and aligned with the organizing principles that guide Migrantes Unidos, who are building joyful and creative communities amidst violent repression. Bio María Torres Wedding is the co-creator of Migrantes Unidos, a group that promotes civic engagement among asylum seekers and aims to end the harmful surveillance of immigrant communities. She is deeply committed to interdisciplinary work that centers impacted community members in program planning, service delivery, and evaluation. She divides her time between working directly with immigrant communities through organizing initiatives, and guiding non-profits and academic institutions in their journey to develop more authentic and responsive relationships with the communities they serve. María was born in Monterrey, Mexico. Links: Trusted abolitionist orgs on surveillance and immigrant detention: Resource to establish local rapid response efforts: ABOUT SYA Shout Your Abortion is normalizing abortion and elevating safe paths to access, regardless of legality. SYA makes resources, campaigns, and media intended to arm existing activists, create new ones, and foster collective participation in abortion access all over the country. /episode/index/show/3c067a6e-b7e4-4d75-8218-5a48edf8443a/id/37925875

Session 24 | Study Abroad with Dr. Maeve O'Brien/Alliance for Choice Derry 07/29/2025

Session 23 | The Plant World and Abortion with Bonnie McIntosh 06/30/2025

Session 22 | Study Abroad with Davinia Hamilton (Malta) 05/23/2025

Session 21 Mutual Aid 101 with Dean Spade 04/25/2025

Session 20 | Art & Activism with Mar Lorenzo (MX) and Lara Islinger (DE) 03/28/2025

Session 19 | Ethical Pregnancy Support 03/03/2025

Session 19 | Ethical Pregnancy Support JustChoice is a grassroots organization founded by people with a range of experience with abortion, adoption, parenting, and the foster care system. The organization is built around the principle that a pregnant person cannot make an ethical adoption decision without having access to all their pregnancy options, including abortion. JustChoice is contacted by pregnant people who need support—emotional, financial, administrative or otherwise—and staff help them navigate both their pregnancy decisions and the systems surrounding pregnancy that are so notoriously harmful, especially to vulnerable people. The JC staff perform many of the same functions as a social worker might, and the organization is essentially the pro-abortion movement's version of a Crisis Pregnancy Center—if the pregnant person was fully supported in whatever decision they made, and if CPCs actually made good on the offers to support those who decide to parent, as opposed to making fake promises as part of their overall anti-abortion manipulation strategy. The most incredible part of this incredible org is that JustChoice believes that their model can and should be replicated by good, hard working, dedicated folks, no social work license required. JustChoice preserves and supports pregnant people and families by providing financial and community resources including mutual aid and hosting, crisis intervention, abortion support, adoption support, parenting support, all-options pregnancy counseling, and family healing via restorative justice healing circles. Unlike deceptive “crisis pregnancy centers,” they provide honest, evidence-based support to help people make informed decisions about their reproductive health and family-building options. The Guttmacher Institute's findings show that their work providing comprehensive, unbiased counseling, improves decision-making and mental health outcomes. By expanding partnerships, scaling community programs, and advocating for systemic change, they envision a future where all women and families thrive. Learn more at . /episode/index/show/3c067a6e-b7e4-4d75-8218-5a48edf8443a/id/35518245