In the wake of President-elect Donald Trump’s victory, human rights organizations and mutual aid groups are bracing for impact. Across social media, organizations shared their disappointment and fears about what a second Trump administration could mean for abortion rights, access to gender-affirming health care, LGBTQIA2S+ rights, immigrant rights and more. Trump’s presidential campaign touted anti-transgender rhetoric, promises of mass deportations of undocumented immigrants and waffling responses on whether or not his administration will support a federal abortion ban.
For volunteers at Cascades Abortion Support Collective, or CASC, the urgency to continue their work remains steady. The collective provides aid for those seeking abortions, assisting with arranging appointments and transportation, procedural costs and emotional support. Fully volunteer-run, the collective has seen a steady rise in cases since the 2022 U.S. Supreme Court ruling overturning the constitutional right to an abortion.
“I personally thought that the huge, immediate boom that we had after Dobbs … would eventually kind of plateau or calm down a little bit, but it really never did,” Cheryl Wolf, a CASC volunteer, said.
Instead, their caseload continues to grow, and the needs of their clients have become more complex as a byproduct of depleted access in many regions, with more people forced to travel further to access care and requiring more immediate appointments. While Oregon operates as one of a handful of states offering legal abortion at any point in the gestation period, access remains inaccessible for some due to cost, transportation and a lack of medical advocacy.
Seeking support?
Cascades Abortion Services Collective offers free, confidential abortion and reproductive health care support. For assistance, call or text (503) 610-0692 or submit an online form at cascadesabortionsupport.org/contact.
True Colors Recovery Organization offers recovery mentor services for LGBTQIA2S+ individuals experiencing addiction and a drop-in center with weekly meetings.
3807 NE Martin Luther King Blvd
Portland, OR 97212
Hours: 2 p.m. – 10 p.m.
Phone: 971-252-1943
In response to Trump’s victory, volunteers Wolf and Amanda (who requested their full name be withheld) said they aim to avoid reactive decision-making and panic. Both began volunteering with CASC in 2021 and work with a larger collective of volunteers who provide in-person support for clients. While abortion access remains entrenched as a talking point in the political sphere, both volunteers emphasize regardless of who is in office, their work will continue.
“People are going to continue to provide abortions, and we as a collective are going to continue to provide the support that we provide, whether it’s illegal or not,” Wolf said. “We will continue to provide support because people will continue to need it.”
In Portland’s King neighborhood, True Colors Recovery Organization serves LGBTQIA2S+ communities seeking substance use recovery support services. Trump’s most recent campaign espoused misinformation about transgender communities and included threats to ban gender-affirming health care coupled with the proposal of “tent cities” as a solution to homelessness and for people with substance use disorders.
As the nation sees disproportionate rates of LGBTQIA2S+ homelessness, issues of access to health care and substance use recovery services are intertwined. Amanda Ireland-Esquivel, True Colors’ executive director, sees looming threats to many marginalized communities under the Trump administration, including for people on her staff, she said.
“When people that provide culturally specific services are impacted just as much as the participants that they serve, it can be a really hard thing to go ahead and navigate,” Ireland-Esquivel said. “People that are leaders in our community are experiencing those same issues.”
Changing the narrative
Despite the fear circulating for many vulnerable communities, Amanda and Wolf remain steadfast in their commitment to assisting those seeking safe abortions. To combat feelings of fear and anxiety about the impending administration, many seek out opportunities to get involved with their communities and with volunteering or organizing, they said. Amanda encourages the direction of this energy to support the many organizations that are already established.
“I recommend folks look into abortion access funds in their state and in their area,” Amanda said
While Oregon has some stronger protections in place for abortion rights and anti-discrimination laws compared to other states, it is still essential to be vigilant about maintaining such rights, Wolf said.
“It’s important not to take for granted what our current level of access and legal right is right now,” Wolf said. “There’s a balance to be struck between fear-mongering for the sake of capitalizing on people’s heightened and dysregulated emotions, and also living in that space where we acknowledge and we recognize that though abortion is a right and we do have access to it now and everyone should have access and the right to reproductive health care, we live in an increasingly fascist world and society, and our state rights may be stripped of us just as easily as our federal right.”
Collaboration
Wolf said as a CASC volunteer, sometimes she feels like she can’t afford to rest. However, when the collective took a much-needed break from accepting clients for the month of October, they were assured by other groups in their network that gaps would be filled.
“We have to rely on the broad community and the broad network of people who provide abortion support because we’re not the only ones,” Wolf said.
Ireland-Esquivel similarly acknowledged that change requires the efforts of many.
“True Colors isn’t going to solve the substance use problems for the entire world, right?” she said. “But what we can do is make an impact for one individual and then support community partners and the work that they’re doing as well.”
Holding onto hope
Ireland-Esquivel expects that for some LGBTQIA2S+ clients, the rhetoric of the upcoming administration will dissuade them from seeking the care and resources they need. She also hopes that organizations like True Colors can help fill that gap.
“I think it’s going to really take culturally specific services, like True Colors, like Equi Institute to go out and show people that they’re safe in our spaces, and for people to go ahead and participate in these services,” Ireland-Esquivel said. “We absolutely will see people that will probably be at higher levels of care and need because of their lack of willingness to go ahead and seek services beforehand, and that’s something that we’ve seen historically.”
When it comes to the unknown, Ireland-Esquivel is confident about her role in the work ahead.
“I think the most impactful thing True Colors can do, is continue to do what we’ve been doing, which is prioritizing community,” she said. “The way that we do that is by creating a safe space for people to go ahead and come and talk about their feelings and also experience joy.”
Where there is room for safety and community, there is also an opportunity for mobilizing and organizing for change, she said.
For those looking to support abortion access efforts, CASC volunteers encourage donating to abortion funds like the Northwest Abortion Access Fund or searching for abortion funds in states with strict abortion bans. To support the efforts of True Colors Recovery Organization, become a donor or volunteer at truecolorsrecovery.org/get-involved.
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This article appears in Nov. 20, 2024.