An insightful discussion with Heidi sieck #voteprochoice

Recently, I had the privilege of sitting down with Heidi Sieck, the co-founder and chief empowerment officer of #VOTEPROCHOICE, for an interview about reproductive rights advocacy. Here’s what she had to say and what I learned from our conversation. 

Heidi started her political involvement at a young age. In her first job out of high school, she worked at Planned Parenthood in Nebraska during a time when, under President Ronald Reagan’s administration, a Title X gag rule prevented sharing information about the legal right to abortion with any patients in order for the clinic to remain eligible for federal funding to distribute free birth control. She stated, “This was 1989. I knew something was up because I saw these folks coming into the clinic whot just wanted to live healthy lives, wanted to be responsible with their reproductive health choices, have access to birth control, and or were pregnant and needed help. But then we were lying to save funding because the president said we had to.” This experience gave her the awareness of the many challenges that came with protecting the reproductive rights of women across the country, and the disconnect between constitutional rights and what was being conveyed to patients. 

While working in the Nebraska Unicameral, Heidi witnessed the rise of anti-choice legislation in the late 80s and early 90s. She observed that an extremely mobilized, well-funded anti-choice minority “was building infrastructure to start chipping away at our reproductive health at the state and local level”, and the Republican Party was using this minority and supporting extreme anti-choice legislation as a tactic to win elections and retain political power. This dynamic motivated her to focus on state and local races as a strategy to protect reproductive rights. She “founded [#VOTEPROCHOICE] in March of 2016 as an online digital platform to mobilize pro-choice voters and help elect down ballot women and women of color candidates running in state and local office.” The organization’s main initiatives include voter registration, candidate support, and providing comprehensive voter guides. Their theory of change is “change the laws by changing the lawmakers.” Heidi emphasized the importance of local elections and how advancement in reproductive rights starts within your community. She encourages young people to recognize the importance of these smaller races in shaping politics and political representation. As Heidi explained to me, “We all get distracted by the federal elections, we get distracted by the presidential elections, we’re already talking about 2024. But there are 93,000 races on the ballot in 2023–thousands in Pennsylvania, hundreds in Virginia, local city councils and school boards in Texas and many more.” #VOTEPROCHOICE has been successful in getting people to the ballots in these key battlegrounds–they’ve “mobilized over 85 million voters and supported 2,500 local candidates and we're going to continue to do that.”

Despite facing obstacles and resistance within the political ecosystem, Heidi stressed the gravity of coalition-building and innovation. She has a hopeful outlook for the future while currently fighting for long-term civic participation and for the “amplification of good information” across platforms including #VOTEPROCHOICE voter guides, social media, and even non-partisan organizations that support voter rights and registration. To the teenage audience, Heidi conveyed the power of our voices and the need for our engagement in civic life. She encourages young adults and teenagers to get involved in the future of reproductive rights. She shared her encouraging words with me, “A message to the teenage audience: you have such a huge voice and we need you. We need you, we need your civic participation and voting and engagement in your state, and local political life can be really fun and enjoyable!” Heidi encourages us to visit local government offices, engage with elected officials, and participate in local politics. 

Overall, Heidi’s message was one of hope, urging young people to be actively involved in shaping the future of reproductive rights advocacy and to never discount the importance of our voices and involvement. Thank you Heidi Sieck for all the amazing work you do!