“Attending the Let’s Talk About Sex Conference”
by Sophie Sanchez
This August, I was able to attend the fifth annual SisterSong National Women of Color Reproductive Justice Collective Let’s Talk About Sex! Conference in Dallas, Texas. It was incredible to attend this conference in a state that has virtually been living without Roe since Senate Bill 8. Attending this conference reaffirmed what we as members of the reproductive justice community already knew: Roe was never enough.
During the conference, we witnessed speeches and performances from everyone from Monica Simpson, Executive Director of SisterSong, to Goody Howard, a renowned sexologist, to the cast of P-Valley. I also met lawyers, doctors, abortion providers, community organizers, journalists, clinic escorts, and doulas – all of whom had traveled to Dallas to participate in the largest reproductive justice conference in the country. Throughout the conference, we chose to attend workshops from a wide variety of options. One of my favorite workshops was on self-managed abortion. Self-managed abortion refers to when a person obtains an abortion outside of the formal healthcare system, including medication abortion and herbal remedies. The panel featured representatives from We Testify, Abortion on Our Own Terms, and If/When/How. An OBGYN also sat on the panel. One key takeaway from this workshop was that managing your own care is always a justice issue.
As someone currently applying to law school, it was profound to meet Jill Adams, the Executive Director of If/When/How, which is focused on lawyering for reproductive justice. I learned about the resources If/When/How offers, including the Repro Legal Helpline and the Repro Legal Defense Fund which can provide legal aid to people criminalized for managing their own abortions. I also attended a workshop on Mindfulness and Affirmations for Reproductive Justice. This workshop reminded me that rest is radical resistance. It can be easy to get swept up in the urgency of the movement, but this workshop and the LTAS conference as a whole was centered on joy despite our collective struggles. Thank you Newcomb Institute for providing me with the resources to participate in this groundbreaking conference experience!