The Janes, a nonprofit group that aims to promote equitable access to abortion, have been organizing a social media campaign to protect women’s right to choose. Citing concerns over repression of reproductive rights in an era where abortion is not protected federally, the Janes have been working to make sure that right is given.
The founder of the Janes explained her concerns with the government’s lack of progress in expanding abortion access. “The U.S. has failed to protect women’s rights,” she said. “That’s why we’re doing all that we can to protect abortion access.”
The organization is beginning with establishing social media accounts and leading assemblies and community events. “We’d like to use any form of social media,” said the Founder. “TikTok, Instagram, maybe even LinkedIn to recruit nurses and gynecologists.”
TikTok in particular has elicited support amongst Janes. Because Gen Z is statistically the most active cohort on TikTok, many of the leaders believe raising awareness on the platform will educate teens. “As an adult, I’ve spent 13 hours on TikTok sometimes,” said co-founder Kendra Winter. “So if we make videos targeted at kids, we’ll be able to reach them efficiently.”
For the founder, expanding access to abortion through social media is not a pipe dream, it is an integral part of American democracy. “The best way to reform democracy is to work within it,” she said. “Through social media, we can encourage citizens to vote and take action to make sure their rights are protected.”
The Janes have also explored connecting with local press and other organizations to raise awareness of abortion rights.
“While we aim to use social media to build a national platform, we want to stay local to Chicago on the ground for now,” the founder explained. The Director of Community Relations also cited Gen Z for Change as a potential organization to collaborate with.
The Janes chair admits her lofty goals, stating that “it’s going to be hard to organize a benefit concert or get Taylor Swift to speak out.” However, the group, which currently has under 100 volunteers and workers but over 20,000 followers, aims to grow on social media even more. “We can use hashtags like #WeAreJane,” said the director of communications. “That way, we’ll expand our reach to women nationwide.
The founder is confident that using social media will maintain American democratic values. “The government is doing what it can,” she said. “But if we use social media to build a movement, we’ll actually be a bigger part of the government and expand the people’s will.”