March 12

2021 Reproductive Freedom Lobby Day

10:00 am — 5:30 pm

Zoom

Join the UnRestrict Minnesota coalition virtually on Zoom on Friday, March 12 to advocate for every Minnesotan’s right to make healthy decisions about if and when to become a parent.
9:30 AM – 10:00 AM: Coffee Hour
We invite you to join us early to meet other participants and listen to music as we settle in for Lobby Day over a cup of coffee or tea.
10:00 AM – 11:00 AM: Welcome with Renee Bracey Sherman
We’ll kick off the day with speakers from the UnRestrict Minnesota coalition. Campaign leaders will talk about the meaning of reproductive justice, outline our legislative agenda, give details about our signature bill, The Patients’ Right to Know Act, and provide tips on how to effectively lobby your legislators, all leading up to our keynote speaker Renee Bracey Sherman, award-winning reproductive justice activist and writer.
11:30 AM – 12:30 PM: Contacting Your Legislator
During the early afternoon session, campaign organizers will walk you through how to contact your legislator. We will share sample emails that you can customize and send to your legislator urging them to support our reproductive freedom legislative agenda, including signing on to be a co-author of the Patients’ Right To Know Act. We will also discuss strategies for sharing your personal story with legislators, because we know that reproductive freedom and abortion access touches many people’s lives uniquely, and it is important for lawmakers to hear these different stories and perspectives.
**Where possible, we will also schedule meetings with legislators at the end of this session. Legislators who aren’t available at this time will be scheduled during other parts of the day. If we are able to schedule a meeting with your legislator, we will email you with more details!**
2:00 PM – 3:00 PM: Pro-Reproductive Freedom Legislator Panel
Erin Maye Quade (Advocacy Director, Gender Justice) and Maggie Meyer (Executive Director, NARAL Pro-Choice Minnesota) will moderate a panel of pro-reproductive freedom legislators. Legislators will discuss why reproductive freedom is important to them, what their work looks like at the legislature (especially given COVID-19), and how constituents can support them in their work for reproductive freedom.
4:30 – 5:30 PM: Virtual Happy Hour
To celebrate the end of Lobby Day, Minnesota’s own Lizz Winstead, founder of Abortion Access Front, co-creator of The Daily Show, and all-around badass, will join us for a virtual happy hour. We’ll share recipes for our signature cocktail and mocktails, the Reproductive Freedom Fizz and Reproductive Justice Juice, ahead of time!
Register here.