Abortion activists organize Mother’s Day Strike
The strike calls for no work, no unpaid labor, no shopping, and no restaurants
Protests erupt outside of the Supreme Court on May 2, 2022 after leaked draft opinion reveals the potential overturn of Roe V. Wade
Pro-choice activists across the country have proposed a week-long Mother’s Day Strike in wake of the leaked Supreme Court draft opinion that would overturn Roe. V Wade.
The general strike would begin on Sunday, May 8, or Mother’s Day, and end the following Sunday, May 15.
The ask is great. The sacrifice is necessary. It will not be in vain — Mother's Day Strike Organizers
Organizers are calling for the cessation of all economic activity through the entire eight-day period, with participants staying home from work or school.
According to the official Mother’s Day Strike website, this demonstration is essential in ensuring reproductive rights.
“Marching and writing angry letters to the editor are little more than great exercises in catharsis, and attempting to reason with legislators who don’t see us as human beings is like shouting at a brick wall,” the site states. “What always works, every time, is hitting them in the bank.”
Many abortion advocates agree with this sentiment, as democratic politicians failed to codify Roe V. Wade into federal law over the past few decades. The latest legislative attempt to secure abortion access came with the Women’s Health Protection Act of 2021, however a motion to pass the bill was defeated by the senate with a 48-46 vote in February.
With the general strike, allies would have the opportunity to engage in a more powerful form of protest, rather than relying on representatives.
“In many cases across the United States, it is simply a logistical impossibility for the woman or women of the household to simply cease working. The ask is great. The sacrifice is necessary. It will not be in vain,” the website states.
In order to refrain from spending money during the strike, organizers are recommending that participants buy groceries and other necessities in advance.
“Some may be wondering: ‘well if we’re just buying more before we cease economic activity, what’s the point?’ You’re throwing off tens of thousands of metrics by stocking up at what would appear to any inventory system as an arbitrary time of the year. This does as much, if not more damage to the fragile ecosystem of supply & demand in our current system of end-stage capitalism.”
The website encouarges those who cannot miss work to donate to trusted organizations that support abortions, engage in mutual aid to help their communities, and continue to make no financial transactions.
