If you were thinking ‘If only there was a way I can drink beer and help my neighbors in need finance their birth control and abortions,’ you’re in luck. Women Have Options – Ohio (WHOO) has begun its fourth annual Tacos, Beers and Abortion event, an online campaign used to raise money, slash stigma and facilitate conversation among friends.
The idea came as a response to the Ice Bucket Challenge, the viral campaign that ultimately raised $115 million for ALS and involved participants dumping buckets of ice water onto their heads.
“Someone was like, ‘Instead of dumping ice on my head and making a video, I’m going to eat a taco and drink a beer and donate to my local abortion fund,” said Stephanie Craddock Sherwood, WHOO Executive Director.
Nationally, the “challenge” has raised as much as $30,000 each year, but locally it’s gotten between a few hundred and a few thousand dollars. These dollars cover entire abortions or even the last $20. They make sure people coming in from out of state — “like Kentucky, who only has one abortion clinic” — have a place to stay by covering the cost of a hotel room. Or, they’ll fund an Ohioan’s trip out-of-state to receive an abortion after 20 weeks, since the ban on abortions after that time period passed in March.
Last year they had roughly 500 people participate, based in Columbus as well as Cincinnati and Athens. To take part takes eating a taco or drinking a beer, posting an image with the hashtag #ToBC17, and making a donation to WHOO. They’ve partnered with local breweries in the past, including Actual Brewing in Columbus, Jackie O’s in Athens and Artifact Brewing in Cincinnati.
“This year, we’ve decided to let the community do their own smaller things,” said Sherwood, “so a lot of people are just doing their own smaller happy hours and mostly with friends.”
The event started at the beginning of August and runs until September 15.
For more information, visit the event on Facebook.