Aspen Baker, founder and executive director of Exhale, a service you can call to talk freely about your experience with abortion, tells her personal story with abortion. YouTube version.
Check out the rest of the Our Reality video series:
Keith Barmer and David Waller of Baltimore share their stories about contracting HIV and the very difficult experiences that preceeded and followed the moment they discovered they were HIV positive. The two men tell how they each triumphed over their difficulties and have come to lead positive, forward-looking lives.
Birth Control at Risk in Federal Health Proposal
Join RH Reality Check on a journey through Maine as we meet with three different reproductive health providers to get their takes on how the proposed Health and Human Services regulation encourage redefinitions of contraception as abortion, allow providers to opt out of care, and create more barriers to health care for women.
Abstinence Comes to Albuquerque
Sarah was in ninth grade when she attended a mandatory 5-day health class on sex education in her public school. But when Sarah's mother heard that she was being taught that condoms don't work, abortion is baby-killing comparable to the deaths on 9/11, and that young people are at risk for suicide if they engage in pre-marital sex, she took action and rallied a community to stand up for their children.
One Man's Experience with Failed Abstinence-Only Programs
Max Siegel is 23 year old gay man living with HIV. Max contracted HIV from his first sexual experience at 17 years old but his story starts even before that. In high school, the extent of Max’ sexual health education was an abstinence-only program that succeeded only in alienating him by refusing to provide him, as a gay person and young person, with the information and tools for a healthy sex life. Max is now a professional reproductive health advocate lobbying for the rights of all young people to comprehensive and empowering sexual health education.
Gina and Chelsea are women living with HIV. Both Gina and Chelsea acknowledge that a lack of sex education contributed to their contracting HIV. They are both living healthy, productive lives and tell their stories openly to others in an effort to prevent the spread of the disease.
Youth Discuss Abstinence, Sex Ed, Teen Pregnancy and Contraception
Youth from around the country gather in Washington DC to discuss the most pressing reproductive and sexual health issues facing teens today: teen pregnancy, access to contraception, the abject failure of abstinence-only programs and more.
University Student Arrested for Handing Out Condoms
Dennis Cheney, a former student at Northern Kentucky University and leader of a student group advocating for better sex education and access to contraception, was arrested while distributing condoms at a freshman orientation event on campus. Cheney says, "The administration put student's health at risk at the expense of appeasing social conservatives."
Helping Women Find Reproductive Health Information and Services
Access to reproductive health care is difficult for many women, especially women living in rural areas and low-income women. Access Women's Health Rights Coalition helps thousands of California women find reproductive health information and services. Volunteers also help with transportation to and from reproductive health clinics. Access can sometimes help women meet financial needs for care as well.
Roman Reed, 33 years old, suffered a spinal cord injury in 1994 leaving him confined to a wheelchair. Immediately after his injury he dedicated himself to advocating for embryonic stem cell research funding to find cures for MS, Parkinsons, Alzheimers and those with similar injuries. As Roman puts it, "It's ridiculous to think that those who are suffering are not worth embryoninc stem cells. There is nothing more pro-life than trying to help the suffering. That's what Jesus did. So tell me what's wrong with that?"
My Name is Monica and I Had an Abortion
"My name is Monica and I had an abortion when I was 25." Monica courageously relays her story of her unintended pregnancy, her boyfriend's reaction to her pregnancy and her decision to have an abortion.
