PRESS STATEMENT

Hetrick-Martin Institute Responds to Leaked Supreme Court Abortion Draft Opinion

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MAY 6, 2022, NEW YORK, NY

Abortion is a fundamental right. Access to safe and legal abortions is an issue for LGBTQIA+ people. The denial of access to safe and legal abortions will disproportionately impact communities of color, making it a racial justice issue. For all of these reasons and many more, Hetrick-Martin Institute (HMI) is prepared to fight alongside our allies to ensure that safe and legal abortions remain a viable option for the communities we serve.

Our work at HMI includes ensuring that our youth members have all the resources they need to make informed decisions about their bodies, including inclusive, affirming, and pleasure based safer sex education; on-site reproductive health care via our partnership with Callen Lorde’s HOTT Program; as well as referrals to medical clinics around New York City that offer pregnancy care as well as abortion care. Our reproductive health approach is especially important given that recent data suggests bisexual teenage girls are five-times more likely to experience pregnancy and lesbian teenage girls are two-times more likely to experience pregnancy due in large part to bullying and abuse, not hypersexual behavior.

For some of our youth members, pregnancy is a time of joy and excitement. For others, it can be a time of confusion and fear. Thus, having a litany of choices around how to move through pregnancy can be a source of empowerment for our youth. It’s unfathomable that in an already precarious health care reality, any young person, particularly those with so few options, would have a fundamental choice taken away from them.

But we can do more. Follow our partners at Planned Parenthood, National Network of Abortion Funds, and NARAL for more details about how to lend your time, talent, and treasure to ensuring abortion remains legal and safe throughout the United States.  

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For interviews, contact:

Gino Hawley
HMI Marketing Communications
917-319-4078
ghawley@hmi.org

About Hetrick-Martin Institute

Hetrick-Martin Institute (HMI) is proud to be the nation’s oldest and largest organization helping gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, questioning, intersex, and asexual (LGBTQIA+) youth between the ages of 13 and 24 to reach their full potential. Through a comprehensive package of direct services and referrals, the organization fosters healthy youth development. HMI’s staff promotes excellence in the delivery of youth services and uses its expertise to create innovative programs that other organizations may use as models. HMI serves a diverse community, the vast majority of whom identify as Black or people of color. The youth organization is dedicated to building its approach to diversity, equity, and inclusion at all levels, throughout its operations and functions.