Telling their abortion stories to a packed hall at the Juneau Arts & Culture Center was a challenging decision for two intelligent, thoughtful Juneau women, but so enlightening for the 200-plus crowd that joined at the JACC on Friday, Jan. 20, to attend the Juneau Pro-Choice Coalition’s 16th annual LunaFest film festival fundraiser — an international film festival of films by and about women. The JPCC owes a huge debt of gratitude to our two guest speakers for sharing their personal abortion stories so articulately and providing so much context and meaning to safe, legal abortion care and how it is so necessary for women and their families, and our community as a whole.
These courageous, resourceful women told their stories without shame or fear of judgment. They spoke out because they know that to ensure reproductive freedom in Alaska, members of our community need to speak honestly about abortion care, to bring it out of the shadows, and to discuss abortion as necessary medical care for women and their families.
The Juneau Pro-Choice Coalition is very grateful for the multitude of community members who attended the fundraising event, especially considering the event has been virtual the past two years due to the pandemic. Clearly, members of our community are impassioned to support efforts to protect reproductive freedom in Alaska with Roe v. Wade no longer the law of the land.
The JPCC also wishes to thank the over 60 individuals and businesses who donated items and experiences for our silent auction. The outpouring of community support to help the JPCC raise funds to support our work to protect Alaskans’ reproductive freedom and access to safe abortion services is inspiring.
LunaFest 2023 was JPCC’s most successful fundraising event ever. We are very pleased to donate 15% of the proceeds to The Cancer Connection, and with the increased income, JPCC will be able to offer larger scholarships to Juneau students and do more community outreach to protect reproductive freedom in Alaska. Thank you Juneau pro-choicer advocates for your generous support.
• Chris Ashenbrenner, Nancy Courtney, Elizabeth Figus, Rachel Gearhart, LaRae Jones, Amy Kesten, Jenny McBride, Constance Miles, Teri Robus are members of the Juneau Pro-Choice Coalition Board.
