First, a bit of an introduction: My name is Mike. I am a board member of ARCH (Access to Reproductive Care and Health), a non-profit organization which raises funds to provide for patients who don’t have the resources to pay fully for their abortion care. We work closely with Falls Church Healthcare Center — which works with patients to request funds when needed. I also work part time at FCHC on social media outreach, security and web development.
I work in an environment where my co-workers are mostly women. Which is why this amazing tote bag was a wonderful present for us as a staff. But the meaning of the slogan on the bag changes when a cisgender man carries it around: for women it’s about taking back bodily autonomy and control. A cisgender man carrying it around would not quite reflect the same message.
When I returned home that evening, I left the bag on my 17 year-old son’s bed — mostly to embarrass him (as dads are supposed to do regularly). But I also decided that it would be a fun item to show off on TikTok — and allow for me to talk about why I feel working at Falls Church Healthcare Center is so important. So I recorded a video where I talked while putting away groceries, and I displayed the bag.
That was one week ago. Since then the video has been viewed over 217,000 times on TikTok. Over 40,000 users “liked” the video. Thousands commented — many showing support for abortion access and for what we do. There were a few abortion opponents, but the overwhelming majority of people were strong supporters. There were some who asked questions about the ceiling fan in my kitchen.
But a sizable amount asked about the bag. How can I get that bag??? I need that bag!
ARCH has been working closely with FCHC and AbortionClinics.com to come up with a way to raise funds for those seeking help to pay for abortion care — and say thank you with these bags. Access to abortion and other reproductive health care often sees obstacles in the form of TRAP (Targeted Regulations against Abortion Providers) laws, as well as decisions on the local and Federal level to prevent abortion coverage through Medicaid. These restrictions disproportionately impact pregnant people of color and can become discouraging. For many, scheduling abortion care means traveling long distances (as the number of abortion providers has been decreasing since 2011), taking off time from work (which, for many, is unpaid), securing childcare (over 50% of abortion patients have already given birth) and, of course, the financial and time investment. Abortion funds like ARCH are used to defray some of these costs. There is a high demand for resources for pregnant people who are seeking abortion care for whom this is a financial struggle. Because as healthcare, abortion should available to all who choose it.
We’d like to ask you to make a donation to ARCH — which you can do directly through PayPal using the button below. If you donate $25 or more and you’d like a bag, please indicate in the comments on the PayPal page that you’d like us to send you a bag. (Please confirm that your email and postal address are correct). Please also let us know if you learned about these bags on TikTok or some other social media.
We have limited supplies but please take advantage of this offer! If we run out, we will definitely order more bags. We’ll let you know if that happens so please be patient. (At this point we can only provide one bag per donor; we’ll let you know if that changes).
When you’ve received your bag, feel free to post about it on TikTok! Let others know the importance of contributing to abortion funds and helping to expand abortion access for those who need it!
(TikTok: @the.real.mr.shiny)
Access to Reproductive Care and Health (ARCH) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, and gifts are tax-deductible to the extent of the law. You will receive a receipt acknowledging your gift via email.