In this vital moment for reproductive and human rights in America, Pro-Choice Washington is proud to announce our first ever five-year strategic plan.
It’s a bold vision for reproductive rights – one where all women, girls, trans, and gender diverse people seeking healthcare in Washington can access the health care they deserve.
The Health Care Landscape
The Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade in June 2022 catapulted abortion rights into the headlines and opened the floodgates of abortion and gender-affirming care restrictions across the US.
This has led to the introduction of a national contraceptives ban, nearly 500 pieces of anti-trans legislation, an unfounded case against Mifepristone, an 11% increase in infant death in Texas, a 3X increase in maternal mortality and fewer doctors providing pregnancy care in states with restrictions, the closure of maternity wards in states like Idaho, the jailing of a teenager in Nebraska for using Facebook messaging to discuss abortion pills with her mother, and much more.
But Americans have also demonstrated that they are overwhelmingly in support of human rights. In Ohio, movement leaders have gathered almost double the needed signatures to get abortion on the ballot. In Kentucky, voters crushed an attempt to ban abortion through a state constitutional amendment. States like New York, Massachusetts, and Washington passed legal protections for abortion patients, providers, and helpers.
This is why we believe in our bold and strategic, five-year plan, our values, and our commitment to long-term change. Our organization is small – both in terms of operating budget and team size – but we are strategic and impactful with every dollar, while caring deeply about and supporting our staff.
Collecting Community Feedback
Our five-year plan is built on direct community feedback that we have collected since mid-2021. Through formal surveys, focus groups, and interviews, with compensated time, we worked closely with our team and board to refine this feedback into a strategy.
This multi-year feedback harvest helped determined two organizational truths:
- To continue Pro-Choice Washington as an independent organization.
- To define Pro-Choice Washington’s unique value-add and track record in the reproductive health, rights, and justice space.
Through these processes, it became clear that Pro-Choice Washington has core strengths, around which we built our strategic, five-year focus. We see our organization becoming the following:
- A leader in bold legislative and grassroots advocacy.
- A mobilizer of reproductive freedom champions.
- A bridge and a connector across partners and issues.
- A bold and independent voice who unapologetically champions the range of issues impacting reproductive health, rights, and justice in Washington.
- A deep believer in our people and building anti-oppression into our core.
Defining Our Contributions
We spent two years asking ourselves difficult questions about our contributions and our skills, and where we fit into and best support the broader social justice ecosystem. Through this process:
- We clarified our reason for being, and our vision, mission, and values.
- We leaned into our value-add, building on our core skills and aiming for a collaborative approach, as protecting reproductive freedom will take everyone working together.
- We set ambitious strategic and organizational goals with our eye on the future, knowing that it takes intentional, sustained action to change systems.
- We built in flexibility, because our landscape is rapidly changing, and agility will serve our mission best.
We also identified urgent areas of acceleration. This is the time to be bold and to meet this moment head on. We are therefore committed to building, through our strategy:
- More Intentional and Impactful Programs
- Deeper and Inclusive Organizing
- Exemplary Policies that End Care Denials, Expand Access, and Close Gaps
- More Social Justice Candidates in Office
- Broader Reach and More Connection
- More Catalytic Partnerships and Collective Action
- More Representative and Inclusive Movement
Making the Vision a Reality
We are proud of the work that went into this strategic plan. We are determined to put that work into action. This is not a document that will sit on a shelf. Rather, it is a living plan that we will continue to examine our work against for the coming years. We are proud to be a part of this movement and to contribute what we can to the ideals of social justice for our future.
Thank you to the many people whose time, ideas, and truths helped shape this strategic plan. Global Health Visions, Sebramos, Sue Fox, and Devi Consults, we are so grateful for your guidance. To the community members who lent their voices and to Sidney Field for her visual design, we are so appreciative of your collaboration on this project.
Lastly, thank you to the visionary Pro-Choice Washington team and Pro-Choice Washington Boards for your invaluable feedback.
To everyone in this movement, help us meet these ambitious goals and achieve our vision for a future where every person has complete reproductive and bodily autonomy!
