The billboard and thousands of ads across the city highlight how abortion is central to freedom for Black communities, urge others to mobilize for abortion access
OMAHA, NE — As attacks on reproductive freedom continue, I Be Black Girl, in partnership with national Black feminist organizations, placed two billboards in North Omaha with one simple message: Abortion is Community Care. Billboards and thousands of advertisements featuring those words will appear in Black communities across Omaha as part of a larger campaign across four key states (including Colorado, Georgia, and Florida) in the fight for abortion access. The campaign, known as Abortion is Freedom, was created to destigmatize abortion, highlight how bans threaten Black people’s freedom and autonomy, and urge people to join local efforts to protect abortion care. The billboard is at the intersection of 4201 Ames Ave, with another launching soon at 1504 Saddle Creek Rd.
Last week, voters in ten states, including Nebraska, decided on ballot measures that would protect or expand abortion rights. Momentum for these initiatives has grown nationwide since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, rendering abortion illegal in several states, including 14 that ban it at every stage of pregnancy. Last month, the deaths of two Black women due to Georgia’s six-week abortion restriction law, Candi Miller and Amber Thurman, highlighted the deadly consequences of these bans. Abortion is Freedom makes clear that Black feminist organizations, which have been leading efforts to ensure people can access abortion post-Roe, will continue to fight against these bans and for reproductive justice—so that no matter what happens in the courts or on Election Day, their communities can access abortion care.
“Our choices matter,” said Ashlei Spivey, Executive Director of I Be Black Girl. ”When we have the freedom to choose how, when, and if we want to start a family, we get to live with dignity and purpose on our own terms.”
The Abortion is Freedom campaign was created by Black Feminist Future in Atlanta, alongside I Be Black Girl in Omaha, Soul 2 Soul Sisters in Colorado, and Voices of Florida in Sarasota. Billboards and thousands of advertisements will be featured in these cities, both online and in print, as a call to action to support their local organizing efforts and mobilize communities for abortion access. The ads aim to connect thousands of people to the broader Abortion is Freedom campaign, which supports Black reproductive justice leaders to respond to restrictions, providing training to Black women, girls, and gender-expansive people across the country on how to bring abortion access to their communities.
The advertisements will be featured on social media and streaming services, in local entertainment spaces, and on billboards and wheat paste posters.
