In 2018, after a successful lobby day at the State Capitol with partners like Planned Parenthood, Feminist Majority Foundation, and Women With a Vision, our co-founders Michelle and Ellie had an idea. They knew that bringing 150 people together in Baton Rouge was an amazing way to build awareness and show support for reproductive rights, but when the lobby day was over, and its participants went home, many of them wouldn’t be successfully engaged to take further action until the following year. Louisiana’s movement for reproductive freedom needed a way to apply consistent pressure on legislators and remind them that their constituents cared about policies impacting women, girls, and gender-expansive Louisianians all the time, not just on one day each spring.
Over the next year, our executive director Michelle partnered with Angela Adkins, the executive director of 10,000 Women Louisiana, to hold listening tours at the Capitol. Through this process, Michelle and Angela grew relationships with women from all across the state who wanted to show up and advocate at the Capitol but who didn’t know how to plug in longer term.
“The more that people do reach out and contact legislators, the more they [continue to] do it. The first big step is eye opening. Then, the steps become more frequent, and [they] start paying more attention to what’s going on.”
In 2019, this discovery led to the piloting of Women on Wednesdays (WOW). Through WOW, advocates were invited to visit the Capitol every week during the spring legislative session, creating opportunities to form relationships between legislators and their constituents and growing advocates’ abilities to hold lawmakers accountable.
This partnership between two leading reproductive rights organizations, Lift Louisiana and 10,000 Women Louisiana, has worked to bridge the gap between legislators and constituents, ensuring that elected officials hear the voices of the people they represent and have the information they need to be able to act in their best interests. 10,000 Women and Lift have worked tirelessly to mobilize their networks, promoting WOW as an inclusive space where people of all backgrounds, life experiences, and political knowledge could come together in pursuit of a shared goal: holding the line for reproductive rights in Louisiana.
And this hard work has paid off. Over the years, the number of WOW attendees has continued to grow. Advocates have returned, new people are regularly joining in, friendships have grown, and community has formed. Through this program, advocates have grown their confidence and leadership, testifying during hearings, reaching out to legislators for meetings, and even running for elected office.
Mary Anne Mushatt is one WOW participant whose experiences at the legislature ignited within her a passion for reproductive justice advocacy and ultimately led her to run for elected office. In 2022, Mary Anne went to her first WOW meeting at the legislature. Throughout that year’s legislative session, she honed her skills in public speaking and made connections with legislators and other advocates.
In 2023, her second year attending WOW, she let her new knowledge and experience launch her advocacy to the next level, testifying in a committee hearing against House Bill 461, a bill to clarify language in new anti-abortion legislation regarding doctors ability to provide life-saving care when a pregnant person was having a miscarriage.
WOW participant and future candidate for state senate Mary Anne Mushatt providing testimony on 2023’s HB 461
Mary Anne and fellow advocate Kaitlyn Joshua courageously shared their stories, emphasizing the importance of this bill in saving the lives of countless women. Physicians themselves joined the hearing, testifying that without the changes that HB 461 would make, the current law was harmful and left them unable to perform their duties without fear of punishment, including the possibility of jail time. In response, one legislator said the unthinkable, leaning back in his chair and remarking, “I think [the law] is fine just the way it is.”
At this moment, Mary Anne recalls that something in her snapped. She’d had enough. She decided then that she would run for office. Her courage and passion for reproductive rights, stoked and supported by WOW and the community that formed around it, resulted in Mary Anne engaging in hundreds of conversations with neighbors and constituents and made a real, tangible impact on the legislature.
“When you do advocacy, you create family, and you create lifelong bonds with people.”
Today, WOW remains a space where advocates come together to champion reproductive rights, engage in the legislative process, and, most importantly, support one another. It has connected people, fostered lifelong friendships, and forged deep bonds among advocates navigating this pivotal moment in reproductive justice.