On June 24, the United States Supreme Court officially moved to overturn Roe v. Wade — the landmark 1973 decision that made abortion legal. The decision created chaos in its wake, immediately triggering into effect a slew of laws designed to severely limit or ban abortion outright that had been drafted across multiple states in anticipation of the decision. In this post-Roe America, millions of people — particularly those from vulnerable communities — will soon lose the ability to access a safe abortion.

NationSwell and our partners at PSI invite you to a discussion exploring the fight for abortion access on another front– looking at popular culture as a powerful tool in normalizing taboo subjects. Drawing from experiences like gay rights advancing alongside LGBTQ TV characters and openly queer celebrities and the destigmatization of HIV through TV and Radio internationally, we will look at the next frontier of moving popular opinion on abortion through narrative change.

NationSwell Council member Jess Jacobs, will moderate a panel focusing on how we can use entertainment and popular culture to shift the perception of abortion — stripping the issue of its partisan framing and refocusing it as an issue of individual rights and health care access.

Jess Jacobs is an award-winning actress, writer, producer, and philanthropist-activist whose work focuses on centering female and femme experiences to further equity and justice. Jess will be joined by Gretchen Sisson, a principal investigator for the Abortion Onscreen program, studying depictions of abortion in American popular culture, Samhita Mukhopadhyay, author, leader, & pioneer of conscious media, and Dr. Eva Lathrop, the Global Medical Director at PSI Global who develops robust programs to address sexual and reproductive health, legal abortion and post-abortion care.  Join these experts as they examine how we can go about creating a culture of acceptance and affecting, lasting long-term change in how abortion is viewed.

This event is open to all NationSwell members and the general public.