Shout Your Abortion

Spread through social media, printed materials, and left-leaning publications, #ShoutYourAbortion has been endorsed by abortion-advocacy leaders, including the president of NARAL Pro-Choice America and Cecile Richards, the late former president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America. The organization sells merchandise through its website, including T-shirts bearing the slogan “Abortion Pills Forever,” and describes its output as “pro-abortion propaganda.” ^{3 4 5}

Background

After pro-life activist David Daleiden released surreptitiously obtained video that alleged that Planned Parenthood was engaged in illegal fetal body parts sales in 2015, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a Planned Parenthood defunding bill. ⁶ Senate Democrats filibustered it in the U.S. Senate. ⁷

Following the effort to cut federal funds to the network that performs an estimated one-third of abortions in the United States, abortion-access supporter Amelia Bonow to announce that she had a positive abortion experience. ^{8 9} According to Bonow, “I have a good heart and having an abortion made me happy in a totally unqualified way. Why wouldn’t I be happy that I was not forced to become a mother?” Feminist opinion writer Lindy West promoted Bonow’s disclosure using the hashtag #ShoutYourAbortion. The hashtag was used over 100,000 times in 24 hours. ¹⁰

Bonow and West eventually co-founded the organization named after West’s hashtag – Shout, LLC, under which the organization #ShoutYourAbortion exists – and co-authored a book with feminist music editor Emily Nokes in 2018. ¹¹

Funding

According to Shout Your Abortion’s website, the group is a “fiscally sponsored project” of NEO Philanthropy. Donations to Shout Your Abortion benefit NEO Philanthropy, which handles contributions to the campaign. ¹²

Founded in 1983, NEO-Philanthropy is a pass-through nonprofit which sponsors a number of similar projects covering a wide array of policy areas. The group also funds left-wing activism on a number of issues. NEO also contributes to pro-abortion causes: in 2016, it gave $287,438 to Shout, LLC for “project management” fees and Abortion Access Front (formerly Lady Parts Justice League). ^{13 14} NEO Philanthropy gave an additional $360,000 to Shout, LLC for “project management” fees in 2017. ¹⁵

Activities

O, Oprah Winfrey’s magazine, profiled Shout Your Abortion co-founder Amelia Bonow and #ShoutYourAbortion in 2018. ¹⁶ Nokes and Bonow were profiled through a re-publication of part of their book in YES Magazine, and #ShoutYourAbortion’s website highlights other coverage at CNN, The Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, and other prominent left-of-center publications. ^{17  18}

On December 1, 2021, Bonow and three other Shout Your Abortion activists appeared on the steps of the U.S. Supreme Court during oral arguments in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization and publicly swallowed mifepristone, obtained through the international abortion access group Aid Access. The activists held a banner reading “We Are Taking Abortion Pills Forever.” Bonow described the action as intended to raise public awareness of mail-order abortion pills and to signal defiance of the anticipated decision overturning Roe v. Wade. ¹⁹

In December 2022, pop artist Lizzo brought Bonow onstage at the People’s Choice Awards when Lizzo accepted the “People’s Champion” award. Lizzo publicly praised Bonow for working “to normalize abortion, increase awareness of abortion pills and motivate people to support abortion access in their communities.” Bonow carried a clutch bag bearing the words “Abortion Pills Forever” during the nationally televised appearance. ²⁰

In late 2025, Shout Your Abortion released two short public service announcement (PSA) films directed by Detroit-based filmmaker Na Forest Lim, depicting women obtaining and using abortion pills at home with the support of friends and family. The PSAs were produced to promote what SYA characterizes as “advance provision” of abortion pills, ordering mifepristone in advance of pregnancy to keep on hand. Bonow stated that the PSAs were intended to normalize medication abortion regardless of “laws or courts or doctors” and that she was attempting to raise $100,000 to distribute the films via YouTube and streaming platforms. Shout Your Abortion also partnered with Hydra Mutual Aid Fund and Plan C to place a billboard promoting abortion pills by mail on U.S. Highway 41 outside Marquette, Michigan in October 2025. ²¹

In November 2025, Shout Your Abortion announced the publication of a children’s book titled Abortion is Everything, co-written by Bonow and Rachel Kessler and illustrated by Emily Nokes. Marketed toward children ages five to eight, the book describes abortion as “the actualization of a uniquely human superpower” and frames it as “a tool that allows human beings to shape our destinies.” The book had originally been announced by Bonow in 2019, with a projected 2020 publication date. ²²

Controversies

Pro-life advocates who work with women who suffer from the aftermath of abortion have criticized #ShoutYourAbortion for portraying only one segment of U.S. women who have abortions. ^{23 24}

In 2019, Bonow interviewed young children about their opinions on abortion. She told one child that abortion is supported by God. ^{25 26}

Critics have also pointed to the organization’s stated mission of “elevating safe paths to access, regardless of legality” as an embrace of illegal abortion provision. The formulation represents a notable shift from the group’s original 2015 messaging, which focused on destigmatization rather than on circumventing legal restrictions on abortion. ^{27 5 28}