#ShoutYourAbortion
Identity, Physical, Digital, Environmental
Summary
A person’s right to choose is under attack. Since #ShoutYourAbortion was launched in September 2015, the hashtag has been used over half a million times and has empowered countless individuals around the world to discuss their abortion experiences without shame—sometimes for the first time in their lives. We teamed up with SYA to push their movement even further to create a global platform for their network of supporters to share their personal narratives. The website we designed and developed won the 2017 People’s Voice Webby Award for Best Activist Website.
Background
Shout Your Abortion began in 2015 when Amelia Bonow shared her personal abortion story on Facebook in reaction to the US House of Representatives voting to defund Planned Parenthood. Her post was then shared on Twitter by Lindy West with #ShoutYourAbortion. Since that time the movement has been featured in all major news outlets, including The New York Times, The Guardian, Al Jazeera, Time, and BBC, it has been described as “bravely fighting stigma in the most inspiring way.” SYA has taken the taboo topic of abortion out of the shadows and started a global conversation.
Organization Type
Social Justice Non–Profit
Assignment
Create a website that allows allies to learn more about the movement and share their stories on the platform
Challenge
There is perhaps no topic more divisive than that of abortion. The debate needed to be taken out of the hands of the anti-choice movement and given back to the people.
Client
#ShoutYourAbortion
Years
2016
Location
Seattle, WA USA
Collaborators
Amelia Bonow
Approach
To help Shout Your Abortion spread their message we built a comprehensive website where their decentralized network of supporters could talk about abortion on their own terms no matter where they are. The SYA movement is everywhere, in art, zines, on the sides of buildings, on social media, this platform is where it can all come together. On the site you can upload a video testimonial, a written story, download protest materials, shop, donate, and above all, learn so you can educate others. In this era of extreme opposition and misinformation the SYA site is a digital safe space for real stories.
Campaigns + Features
Abortion Pills Forever – 2022 Campaigns
With the threat of Roe v. Wade being overturned by the Supreme Court and given the decades-long, systematic defunding of abortion clinics around the country, Shout Your Abortion needed to begin raising awareness that abortion pills are safe, effective and widely available online. Through a series of activations online and in the streets, thousands of pillboxes have been distributed nationwide. We designed the pillboxes to hold an insert card with images of Mifepristone and Misoprostol (aka abortion pills) to demystify the process. The back of the insert card has a QR code directing people to further resources at shareabortionpill.info. You can find free downloadable assets and information on participating in the Abortion Pills Forever campaign on the SYA site.
Social Media Generator – 2019 Feature
To help the SYA team quickly and easily share the thousands of stories uploaded to the site onto social media, we built an instant quote generator tool. Highlight any chunk of text in the stories on the SYA site and it will instantly create a shareable and downloadable graphic. See how it works here.
Together For Abortion – 2016 Campaign
With the goal of having pro-choice positive events in all 50 states on the 43rd anniversary of Roe v. Wade we created a separate online tool at togetherforabortion.com that allows individuals and groups to share their events with new audiences. To style the event site we took our inspiration from the grassroots history of the pro-choice movement. The site flashes in bold red, white and blue, representing the basic personal freedoms inherent in the United States.
Research
Women’s Reproductive Rights, Historic Activist Movements, Gran Fury, Zines
Reach
- The website won a Silver Award in the first annual Anthem Awards in the space of Human & Civil Rights and Community Engagement (2022)
- Thousands of branded pillboxes have been distributed around the US raising awareness that abortion pills are safe, effective and widely available online and leading people to further resources on the SYA website.
- The website won the People’s Voice Webby Award for Best Activist Website (2017)
- On the 44th Anniversary of Roe v. Wade the SYA video was projected onto Trump Tower
- The print campaign is included in the second edition of “The Design of Dissent” written by Milton Glaser and Mirko Ilic to be released in 2017
Quote
“#ShoutYourAbortion is transforming the reproductive rights conversation.”
— The Washington Post
“Abortion is normal. Love Yourself!”
— Amelia Bonow, Webby Acceptance Speech
“You never have to feel ashamed of your personal medical decisions…you can speak about them at full volume.”
– Lindy West
“If abortion is a political football, #ShoutYourAbortion is a Hail Mary pass – women publicizing an extremely personal decision in order to save what they believe is every woman’s right.”
– The Seattle Times
Components
Identity Refresh, Print Collateral System, Digital Collateral System, Environmental Graphic System, Information Architecture, Wireframing, User Experience Design, User Interface Design and Development, CMS Development
Technical Specs
HTML, CSS, JavaScript, WordPress
Team
Principal: Michael Ellsworth
Principal: Corey Gutch
Creative Direction: Gabriel Stromberg
Design: Andrew JS and Òscar Viñas
Web Development: Shaun Kardinal
Account Management: Elise Carlson and Raya Leary
In this era of extreme opposition and misinformation, the Shout Your Abortion movement and platform empowers individuals to take the conversation back and share their experiences without shame.
