Plan C Takes SXSW

We made a powerful impact at SXSW, hosting panels on digital censorship of abortion information, collaborating on The Care House art installation with Autumn Breon, and launching mobile billboards calling out Big Tech’s role in abortion surveillance.

• Unified Jam
• The Care House
• Mobile billboards and projections
• SXSW panel

Unified Jam 

Unified Jam is an annual celebration of activist culture. Plan C’s Media Manager, Martha Dimitratou, was featured on a panel entitled “Silenced Choices: Fighting Digital Suppression of Abortion” alongside Jane Eklund from Amnesty International USA, Roopan Gill from the Vitala Global Foundation, and Kiana Tipton from Charley Chatbot. This panel discussed the challenges of providing accurate abortion information online and the creative ways abortion activists get the word out.

The Care House

We partnered with globally recognized artist Autumn Breon and Future Front Texas for The Care House, a literal and figurative community salon. On March 10, The Future Front House’s workshop studio and gallery was transformed into the official tour stop for Care Machine, Autumn Breon’s latest installation, a traveling beauty and sexual health vending machine. The day consisted of a variety of activations exploring the art (and adornment) of reproductive justice, featuring the care machine itself, a talk with Autumn Breon and other femme and queer arts organizers, community panels, complimentary facials and tooth gems and more. Our abortion resource display included amazing resources from our partners at If/When/How, Texas Equal Access Fund, Shout Your Abortion, MOVE Texas, and Fight For The Future. The Care House received 250 attendees and over 700 RSVPs! Feedback from an attendee, Lisa, who runs an abortion care group in West Texas, said “This was my fav event of all of SXSW. Thank you for opening your space and bringing so many amazing people together. It was great to be in community with so many other abortion rights folks”.

Mobile billboards and projections

During the first five days of the festival, our mobile billboard and projections created in partnership with art collective Project for Empty Space, For Freedoms, Essentials Creative, Women on Web, and internet freedom organization For Freedoms circulated in downtown Austin, showcasing curated artwork to uplift body freedom and demanding Big Tech to end its role in fueling abortion surveillance and censorship. These billboards targeted Big Tech attendees, Health and Tech conferences as well as Music, and key locations such as the Blanton Museum of Art, the Texas Capitol, SXSW attendee hotels, and the Future Front House for eight hours daily. Our project received an overwhelmingly positive response for calling out Big Tech and was shared in multiple accounts, such as by Dan Savage and Womanly, as well as in media outlets, such as Jezebel. You can read the article here.

SXSW panel 

For the first time ever, Plan C hosted an official panel at SXSW with our partners at Amnesty International, Vitala Global, and Fos Feminista. This panel focused on Big Tech companies and the government's suppression of abortion information. This suppression prevents millions of people from accessing healthcare and having complete control over their bodies. With the overturn of Roe v Wade, a surging number of people are searching for abortion-related answers online. When the pro-abortion movement needs tech to step up to ensure our right to accurate healthcare information, the threats of digital suppression and disinformation are increasing. This conversation looked into the nuances of the fight against digital suppression and the ways that our organizations are getting information to the people who need it most. Listen to the full panel conversation here.