Hannah Baity, a youth organizer for the Illinois Caucus for Adolescent Health who supports the repeal, told the Senate committee, “Young people are more than capable of making decisions that affect their futures.”
In 2013, the Illinois Caucus for Adolescent Health (ICAH) carried out a study exploring the role of chosen and given family in discussions with adolescents about sexual identity, health and rights. They used individual interviews, online surveys and focus groups to explore the experiences of nearly 500 adolescents as they navigated this at times rocky and confusing stage of their development.
Cat, Youth Organizer, ICAH - When she discovered she was pregnant, she decided to have an abortion, but knew she couldn’t tell her parents. When her father had learned she was sexually active, he hit her and grounded her for months.
Deborah Holton, youth organizer with the Illinois Caucus for Adolescent Health, said notification can result in the loss of a minor’s financial support, homelessness and emotional and physical abuse.
“This is how we set boundaries as children, how we prevent child abuse, how we help young people feel safe in their own bodies,” said Aisha Chaudhri, reproductive manager at EverThrive, a community health non-profit based in Chicago. Chaudhri helped the district write its curriculum as the education manager at the Illinois Caucus for Adolescent Health, and has reviewed outside sexual education curriculum taught in Chicago schools.
Rewire’s CHOICE/LESS podcast delivers powerful, personal stories of reproductive injustice and the laws, politics, and people beyond the headlines. We’re incredibly excited to be featured throughout Season 4, which focuses on stories relating to young people, sex, abortion, and the law.
In Episode 1, “How Did You Keep That a Secret?,” host Jenn Stanley describes her own adolescence and experiences attending a small, all-girls Catholic high school with a former classmate. Find the transcript of Episode 1 here.
Episode 2, “Welcome to Abortion Court,” features young people’s accounts of standing before a judge to seek an abortion. Find the transcript of Episode 2 here.
Episode 3, “The Talk,” explores what it takes to have open, healthy family communication around polarizing topics like abortion and features ICAH board member Roni and her daughter, Niky, an ICAH young person. Find the transcript of Episode 3 here.
Episode 4, “Sally vs. Sex Education,” discusses the role schools should play in educating young people about sex. Find the transcript of Episode 4 here.
Episode 5, “Their Bodies, Their Boats, Their Play,” covers our play, This Boat Called My Body. Find the transcript of Episode 5 here and find a complete transcript of the six playwrights talking about their work with CHOICE/LESS host and producer Jenn Stanley here.
I worked with [ICAH] for a while. That's a way to use art as activism. They do plays about consent. They do plays about teenage pregnancy, a lot of sex education stuff. Most of it is pay what you can or free. They do workshops all over the city. I think that's really important because sex education in Chicago Public Schools is very cis, hetero. It's aimed for the pleasure of males. It's not aimed at the pleasure of women or queer youth at all. So I think the work that the Illinois Caucus for Adolescent Health is doing — turning that art into some kind of education — is super important.
Click on the images below to read reviews of our newest play, This Boat Called My Body.
Newcity Stage
“You would be hard-pressed to find a more positive, more powerful, more deeply joyful piece of theater”
--Erin Shea Brady
Chicago Reader
“Engaging and entertaining”
--Jack Helbig
South Side Weekly
"Captures the audience’s attention from beginning to end" --Samantha Smylie
Rescripted
"A unique and powerful experience" --Lucas Garcia
