Immersed Zine

BY CAROLINE LEMLEY | Photos by Nathan Wellish

Let’s start with a game. I’m going to give you three quotes, your job is to determine whether or not they are from Margaret Atwood’s 1985 novel The Handmaid’s Tale, or quotes from modern day elected officials. Shall we begin?

1. “I understand that women feel like it’s their body, [but] I call them a host, and you know when you enter into a relationship you are going to be that host.”
2. “Societal collapse was always brought about following the advent of deterioration of marriage and family.”
3. “I think that putting a wife to work is a very dangerous thing.”

If you guessed that number 2 was from The Handmaid’s Tale I have some unfortunate news, these are all direct quotes from elected Republican US officials (1. Justin Humphrey, 2. Mike Pence, 3. Donald Trump).

 It seems as though the pendulum is swinging back, eviscerating hard-won sexual freedoms and civil rights. In U.S. history there are no precedents in American law where a fundamental right, as deemed by the Supreme Court, has been erased. Until June 24 of 2022, when 64 million American people of child-bearing age woke up with less control over their physical autonomy then they had when going to bed the night before. Roe v. Wade had been overturned. Months leading up to this decision the American people felt tremors ignited by headlines and rumors that a vote was imminent, but blind faith in the judicial system left many unprepared for the shockwave that was to come. Since then, fourteen states have effective-total abortion bans during any stage of a pregnancy, and six states have implemented bans anywhere from 6-20 weeks after an individual’s last menstrual period. 

The fallout of these restrictions are not experienced equally. Abortion bans disproportionately affect systemically marginalized groups. Such communities already had limited access to abortion and other sexual health services due to numerous factors including, pervasive white-supremacy and coercive reproductive health policies, even before 2022. Planned Parenthood aims to fight against that by offering affordable reproductive health care including abortion, birth-control, and life saving STD and cancer screenings. In 2007, Mike Pence introduced the first federal legislation intended to “defund” Planned Parenthood, and although the infantry of reproductive health advocates championed that battle, it was just one of many. The impact of defunding Planned Parenthood would be particularly disastrous considering most patients say that access to family planning centers is their primary source of health care, and for one in four it is their only source. 

Therein lies the birth of Public Cervix Announcement (PCA). What initially began as a coffee table conversation to host a yard sale to raise funds for Wilmington’s Planned Parenthood South Atlantic (PPSAT), quickly turned into a community of heart-broken and angry people rallying together. In  June of 2022 I quickly compiled a list of event spaces that might be willing to host such an event, and started cold calling. Hi-Wire Brewing answered. With the help of my roommate (Emily Koch) we organized the first Public Cervix Announcement which incorporated eleven local vendors, three local musical acts, and a massive yard-sale with donations from the community. In total we raised around 10 thousand dollars to be donated to PPSAT. During June of 2023, in the wake of the NC state legislature passing its own abortion restrictions, we began planning the resurgence of Public Cervix Announcement 2. This year PCA doubled in size. Backed by 22 vendors, 3 local bands, both print and media coverage, and Hi Wire, the goal was to surpass that initial 10 thousand. 

We did not. That is not to say that the event was a failure, on August 5th 2023, PCA2 raised $6,561 for PPSAT through vendor sales, yard sale donations, raffles, and Hi Wire donating a portion of beer sales. Obsessively, I watched the donation count, refreshing my phone every third minute, wondering where we had gone wrong. What could I have done differently, where are all the people, why aren’t the donations the same as last year? I resigned to the conclusion that the initial uproar at the overturning of Roe had subsided to mere television static. But in one epiphany, as I looked around at the faces of those in attendance, my coolness began to thaw. Hundreds of people smiling, conversing, hugging, and loving on those around them. This day, and this event is more than a dollar amount to be achieved. It emboldens others to gather in community and ignite discussions on reproductive healthcare. It uplifts anyone, from small business owners and local musicians to fathers and daughters, and everyone in between. That was the goal from the beginning, over a shared cup of coffee.

 The fight for abortion rights and access is far from over. American’s daily lives are heavily impacted by the decisions of the Supreme Court and numerous elected officials. That is the tragic truth. But, the effect of Public Cervix Announcement, and other grassroots events, prove that communities are engaged, they are listening, and they are outraged. PCA is just one event of thousands that have united people of all demographics to scream war cries at the oppressors. No one can dampen that sound. It is with rigid spines and arms intertwined that we must march forward on the vital quest towards the “inalienable right” to preserve life, liberty, and the pursuit of fundamental human rights.