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Summer 2019
WHAT'S GOING ON AT OPTIONS FOR SEXUAL HEALTH? LET US TELL YOU!
This summer has been hot, hot, hot!
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BIG HEART YOUR PARTS NEWS!
We are thrilled to announce our
2019 Sexual Health Champion is
Willow Clinic!
Scroll down for more information on Willow Clinic and Andrea Reimer. For more details on our HYP Fundraising Breakfast visit our website!
#JoinTheHYP #HeartYourParts #HYP2019
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 FROM MY MESSY DESK
Hello Options supporters!
It's hard to believe that the end of August is already here- I hope everyone had a wonderful summer! For me, my volunteer job is as co-chair at the Vancouver Pride Society meant that I spent the weekend marching, talking to media, flipping pancakes for AIDS charities, enjoying old friends, making new ones and transforming my car into a unicorn- magic!
It was amazing in part because our work at Options was the focus of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence Vancouver Chapter. They chose to honour the work of reproductive justice in human rights by being "reSisters' and wearing wings made of hangers telling people that we can't backslide on abortion and must increase access to reproductive services. The Sisters gave out Options I Heart My Parts buttons, Sex Sense cards and raised awareness of our work across the province. You can see that Sister Fancy Pants even painted a uterus on her face. What a wonderful way to reach an important audience.
Another way to reach our audience is through our Petition targeted to the Provincial Government around access to free prescription contraception. In June, we sent all of our clinics the petition so that we would be able to collect signatures from folks throughout the province, and we will be presenting to the Minister of Health at the BC Legislature in late September.
As many of you know, Options did quite a bit of work on free contraception almost a decade ago and some of that advocacy has continued with the wonderful work of Dr. Wendy Norman and her team at CART. The SMART program rolled out across the province almost two years ago has been quite successful and we believe that someone should not have to get pregnant and have an abortion to then have access to free contraception. This petition is a reflection of the work our staff and volunteers are doing, in every corner of the province, to advance choice and reproductive justice for people who can get pregnant in BC. If you are interested in collecting signatures, or if you have any questions at all about the petition, you can email me mfortin@optbc.org. Please feel free to make as many copies of the petition as you would like. Drop it off at your doctors' office, bank, local women's shelter, library, kids' softball or soccer league and anywhere else in town you think people may choose to amplify our voice.
As you can tell, we're also extremely excited for September! We'd love for you to join us September 20th for our Heart Your Parts Fundraising Breakfast, where we are serving up coffee with a side of sexual and reproductive choice. The funds we raise at this event allow us to continue improving access to sexual health services and care throughout the province. This year's theme is My Body, My Choice, and we hope to see you all there!
Yours in sexual and reproductive justice,
Michelle
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AGM ANNOUNCEMENT
Our 2019 Annual General Meeting coming up on September 20th at our Options for Sexual Health Provincial Office. Please RSVP by September 18th. Click here to RSVP!
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More about our Keynote
After working as a City of Vancouver Councillor, Andrea Reimer has embarked upon a new journey, and after her experience as a Loeb Fellow at Harvard Graduate School of Design, she has returned to Vancouver working at both UBC and SFU. To quote Andrea: 'I write. I speak. I teach. I organize. I mobilize. Unapologetic urbanist, fierce feminist, deeply engaged, bright green.' We loved her recent article in the Canadian Observer, Surviving the Shattered Glass Ceiling.
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More about our Sexual Health Champion
As a long-standing progressive reproductive health clinic in Vancouver, we are thrilled to be honouring Willow Clinic for their tremendous contribution to sexual and reproductive health in B.C. Scroll down to learn more about Willow Clinic and the work they do. Willow Clinic has many years’ experience offering medication abortion, particularly in the time when there were few other facilities offering this option (most others offered aspiration abortion only until mifepristone became available in Canada in January 2017). This presented pregnant people with a choice that was lacking. Willow provides medication abortion by telemedicine for those who cannot easily access appointments in their communities. This increases access in smaller, rural and remote communities and well as privacy and confidentiality for some pregnant people. This incredible team of passionate professionals provide a safe and comfortable environment for all people who need care. They are also incredibly proud of the over 400 IUD insertions they do each and every month.
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