Storytelling event and podcast will share abortion stories to rally support for Florida initiative

Andrea Askowitz, who runs an radio writing class, organized the event, which will tour at the end of October.

A Florida abortion storytelling event grew into a well-received podcast. Participants in it will now tour the state to galvanize voters to cast a ballot supporting the passage of its ballot initiative. 

Abortion Stories was originally a series of live performances held in Miami on Sept. 5. Andrea Askowitz, a comedian and writer, organized it. She also runs Writing Class Radio, a class for people who want to develop programming for that medium. 

“Every story in that show has a twist, a survival, an ‘I am empowered because of this’ kind of takeaway. It feels like a revival,” Askowitz said. 

Askowitz started a show called Lip Service, which is an out-loud storytelling event, about 18 years ago. It played for nine years. That gave her a background that prepared her for planning the abortion-related performances. 

Askowitz corresponded with Rabbi Rachel Greengrass, a Miami-based religious leader who supports the ballot initiative. Greengrass had called her and said they needed to do an event focused on abortion. 

“I pretty much handpicked the storytellers,” Askowitz said. “I've been in this world now 25 years, and I've been teaching classes this whole time, telling my own stories, and doing Lip Service. So, I knew how to create a show. I knew who I needed.” 

Seven storytellers will share their stories in the coming weeks on the radio program and then once again in the series of events that will begin in Tallahassee on Oct. 24. 

The first performer is Liz Chifari, who had two abortions. In 1970, before abortion was legal, Liz had to proclaim she was mentally ill to get one. In 1997, when she thought she was in perimenopause and already had a family, she went to an abortion clinic. Her story is about how radically different her experiences were. 

Nicole Crooks is the second storyteller. The counselor recounts her story of sexual molestation and rape. Neither the abuse nor the rape were described, but there is mention of both. In Crooks’ story, she grapples with reporting her rape and ultimately doesn’t, just as the women she counseled ultimately didn’t report theirs.

The third storyteller, Matt Tente, reads a letter. His partner had a pregnancy that doctors told them had a fetal deformity. She had to decide whether to have an abortion. Later, they discovered that it was a misdiagnosis. They gave birth to their son in a second pregnancy. It relates how couples and women need more time to determine the health of a fetus. 

Those are the stories shared thus far. I could go into the details of the others, but I suggest listening to their podcast, which is available here.