NIRH Salutes SNL Cast and Crew for Taking a Bold Stance in Support of Abortion Rights

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 9, 2022
Contact: Daphne Ortiz, [email protected], 323-86-9890

Cast Wears 1973 T-Shirts Benefitting NIRH’s Efforts to Safeguard Access in States and Cities Across the Country

NEW YORK — Over the weekend, NBC’s Saturday Night Live took a bold stance in support of abortion rights.  The show featured a powerful opening sketch and chose to close out the evening with host Benedict Cumberbatch and half a dozen cast members wearing white “1973” t-shirts in honor the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Roe v. Wade that legalized abortion nationwide that year.

“By wearing our 1973 t-shirts on air, the cast and crew of SNL are standing in solidarity with the everyone who ever has or ever will need an abortion, regardless of what the Supreme Court decides in the future,” said Andrea Miller, President of the National Institute for Reproductive Health (NIRH).  “I want to especially thank Cecily Strong, who we were proud to honor as one of our 2022 “Champions of Choice” luncheon, a mere 10 days ago, for being vocal and unapologetic that, like the vast majority of this country, each of us deserves to have the right and ability to make decisions about our reproductive lives.”

Designed by prinkshop and sold online by Social Goods, the 1973 t-shirt honors Roe’s promise that everyone should have the freedom to control our bodies, our lives, and our futures.  $5 from the sale of every t-shirt is donated to support NIRH’s efforts to fight for just and equitable access to reproductive health care, including abortion care, at the state and local levels.

NIRH played a key role working with partners in the eight states that protected abortion rights and expanded abortion access over the last three years, including being instrumental in passing the Reproductive Health Act in New York, which updated the state’s pro-Roe abortion laws, and helping bring abortion rights laws to fruition in states ranging from Colorado to Massachusetts, New Jersey to New Mexico. NIRH has also played a pivotal role in expanding coverage for abortion care and abortion funding initiatives, like the recent $15 million reproductive health fund in Oregon, and is partnering with elected officials and advocates to make New York State the next to create such an historic fund.

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The National Institute for Reproductive Health (NIRH) is an advocacy group that works directly with state and local reproductive health, rights, and justice organizations and allied groups to protect and advance access to reproductive healthcare. For more than 40 years, NIRH has been partnering with communities to build coalitions, launch campaigns, and successfully advocate for policy change. NIRH’s strategy is to go on the offensive and focus on communities where change is needed, so the fabric of reproductive freedom becomes harder to tear apart.