[ad_1]
by Megan Burbank
On the finish of October, Legal professional Normal Bob Ferguson despatched a cease-and-desist letter to Leda Well being, an organization advertising and marketing DIY take a look at kits to survivors of sexual assault. The cease-and-desist was prompted by a grievance filed by the Related College students of the College of Washington after the coed newspaper, The Every day, discovered that the take a look at kits, which Leda Well being had promoted by a partnership with a UW sorority, weren’t admissible in court docket.
Leda has denied these claims. However even when the exams have been unambiguously admissible in a court docket of legislation, they weren’t actually fixing an issue: In line with The Every day’s reporting, UW already offers free sexual assault exams, together with contraception and STI testing, by on-campus well being and security sources and UW Medication.
However what struck me most whereas studying The Every day’s reporting was this element: The kits, which have additionally been met with cease-and-desist orders from attorneys common in Michigan and New York, have been initially marketed beneath the identify “MeToo Kits Firm,” and so they embody a troubling overlap between advertising and marketing and the language of social justice. When feminist issues like gender-based violence dominate the information cycle — as they did in the course of the equipment’s authentic namesake, the #MeToo motion — efforts to revenue from it comply with.
The identical holds true for reproductive well being. The day earlier than Roe v. Wade was overturned, I obtained a advertising and marketing pitch from an organization known as Stix providing interviews with its founders. Once I clicked by the advertising and marketing copy, I discovered a web site promoting emergency contraception branded as Restart and a photograph from the corporate’s marketing campaign to position pro-choice billboards close to disaster being pregnant facilities — right-wing facilities that try and dissuade individuals from having abortions — in states with abortion bans.
“In Ohio, a canine can get an abortion,” one billboard learn. “However her proprietor is begging for reproductive rights. It’s time for a Restart.”
What was odd about all of this — along with evaluating ladies to canines within the identify of feminism, an odd framing to say the least — is that whereas Stix tied its advertising and marketing on to the reversal of Roe v. Wade, it didn’t really appear to have any involvement with abortion care. Emergency contraception isn’t a lot of a “restart” in the event you want an abortion. And emergency contraception with a delay for transport isn’t a lot assist if you wish to keep away from an unplanned being pregnant within the first place — particularly when you may get it sooner over-the-counter.
Once I emailed the corporate asking about this, it by no means responded. I wasn’t shocked.
The identical factor occurred once more in September, when one other firm, Wisp, reached out asserting that it was “launching probably the most reasonably priced and safe medical abortion providing throughout Washington and 6 different states.” The price? The “most reasonably priced available on the market at simply $200.” This doesn’t go the sniff take a look at: In Washington, the place state Medicaid {dollars} cowl abortion, probably the most reasonably priced remedy abortion available on the market is one which doesn’t price something.
I wrote the corporate again asking why it was framing its product as probably the most reasonably priced possibility in mild of that. It by no means wrote again.
However its existence says rather a lot by itself. When there are actual gaps in entry to well being care and protracted inequities, firms embracing girlboss language and a tie-in to the information cycle stand to profit significantly, even when they do little to meaningfully alleviate gaps in entry to care, regardless of their claims.
On its web site, Leda Well being’s acknowledged mission is “to raised assist survivors, their family members, and the communities by which they dwell” by “altering the panorama of sexual assault prevention, care and therapeutic.”
The necessity to reimagine assist for sexual assault survivors is actual. It’s simply not one the corporate appears to be addressing. In Washington, survivors of sexual assault do face main obstacles to remedy, one among which is that there aren’t sufficient nurses educated to manage forensic exams, especially in rural communities. However DIY kits outdoors the medical system usually are not the answer, simply as promoting emergency contraception on-line doesn’t meaningfully broaden abortion entry.
Realities like these haven’t saved these providers from getting breathless protection. And perhaps that’s comprehensible. Perhaps it’s extra interesting to consider within the potential of a disruptive startup than to face the long-game work of dismantling systemic obstacles individuals face to well being care, entrenched as they’re by coverage and geography.
However actual options have to take note of this complexity. To really serve survivors, forensic exams should be administered by certified well being care suppliers who’re specifically educated to carry out them. And if somebody already wants an abortion, it’s too late for emergency contraception. Anybody who says in any other case is promoting one thing.
The South Seattle Emerald is dedicated to holding area for quite a lot of viewpoints inside our neighborhood, with the understanding that differing views don’t negate mutual respect amongst neighborhood members.
The opinions, beliefs, and viewpoints expressed by the contributors on this web site don’t essentially mirror the opinions, beliefs, and viewpoints of the Emerald or official insurance policies of the Emerald.
Megan Burbank is a author and editor based mostly in Seattle. Earlier than going full-time freelance, she labored as an editor and reporter on the Portland Mercury and The Seattle Occasions. She focuses on enterprise reporting on reproductive well being coverage, and tales on the nexus of gender, politics, and tradition.
📸 Featured picture by Checubus/Shutterstock.com.
Earlier than you progress on to the subsequent story … The South Seattle Emerald is delivered to you by Rainmakers. Rainmakers give recurring presents at any quantity. With over 900 Rainmakers, the Emerald is actually community-driven native media. Assist us get to 1,100 Rainmakers by the top of the 12 months and preserve BIPOC-led media free and accessible. If simply half of our readers signed as much as give $6 a month, we would not must fundraise for the remainder of the 12 months. Small quantities make a distinction. We can not do that work with out you. Become a Rainmaker today!
[ad_2]
Source link
