PLANNED PARENTHOOD

CHOICES to Expand to Carbondale, PLANNEDIllinois 05/09/2022 - Memphis, TN – Today, CHOICES: Memphis Center for Reproductive Health PARENTHOODannounced its plans to open a clinic in Carbondale, IL in response to the impending abortion ban in TN. The new clinic will be operational this year to provide access to abortion care for people in the Southeast, and the Memphis clinic will remain open continuing to provide essential reproductive and sexual healthcare, including midwifery care. CHOICES’ bold plan will ensure continued access to critical reproductive health care in Memphis and create access to essential abortion care in Southern IL, the closest state to Tennessee that will retain the right to abortion. At CHOICES: Memphis Center for Reproductive Health, we pride ourselves on our long history of firsts in response to the needs of our community. Founded in 1974, CHOICES was the first abortion provider in Memphis. In the early 2000s, CHOICES accomplished more firsts for our community, including introducing genderaffirming hormone therapy for transgender individuals, contraception and preconception care for people living with HIV, and fertility assistance for same sex couples. Most recently, CHOICES built the first birth center in Memphis and became the first nonprofit in the US to offer fullspectrum reproductive health care, ranging from abortion to midwiferybased birth and perinatal services, all under one roof. Almost 4,000 people a year depend on CHOICES for abortion care, and we will provide abortions in Memphis up until the moment that these new bans go into effect. Even then, CHOICES Memphis isn’t going anywhere. Our Memphis clinic will remain open to provide all the other important services, ranging from no-cost birth control, gender affirming care, midwifery, and general reproductive health care. Marching boldly forward to care for our community is simply who we are, and that’s why CHOICES is proud to announce that we are opening a clinic in Carbondale, Illinois. Our new Carbondale clinic will allow us to continue to provide abortion care for folks in our Memphis community. A three-hour drive from Memphis and Nashville and a stop on the Amtrak line, this facility will be the Southernmost abortion provider in Illinois, a lifeline for people in the Southeast who need an abortion. Moreover, Illinois is a shining example of how states can protect abortion access and the right to abortion without restriction. A 2019 state law protecting access to abortion makes the state, in the words of Gov. Pritzker, “beacon of hope for [people] who need reproductive health." The location is what originally drew us to Carbondale, but the incredible heart of the Carbondale community is what let us know we had found a second home for CHOICES. Jennifer Pepper, CEO of CHOICES, stated, “We are excited about the opportunity to serve the Carbondale area and surrounding communities. We’ve been traveling to Carbondale since November of 2021 and could not have imagined a warmer welcome from the community leaders, healthcare professionals, and nonprofits with whom we met.” Our legacy of responding to the needs of the community remains now that CHOICES is expanding into Southern Illinois, and as such we’re proud to announce that in addition to abortion care, our new Carbondale clinic will provide gender affirming care from the first day we open our doors in August 2022. And we won’t stop there. CHOICES is committed to being an asset to the communities we serve, and we believe deeply that abortion belongs within the full spectrum of reproductive healthcare. So, we’ve developed a phased approach to gradually increase services at our new clinic with the goal of becoming a full-spectrum provider, including a birth center. CHOICES envisions a world where sexual and reproductive healthcare is recognized as an essential human right, and we will never stop working to realize our vision. In Tennessee, you don’t need to look far to imagine what abortion access will look like if the Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade. Abortion care is already out of reach for so many people. Even though abortion is legal, politicians have passed laws and created obstacles that treat people differently. Young people, people living in poverty, and people of color must work twice as hard to make it past the barriers to receive care. That need is going to grow in the wake of the human rights crisis caused by lack of access to abortion care. We know that people with privilege have the access and possibilities necessary to overcome the barriers antichoice state lawmakers put in place because they can afford to spend the money, take time off work, arrange childcare, and do what they need to do to get to a clinic. But we’re taking action so that every single person in our community who needs an abortion can get the care they need, build their families in a safe and patient-centered space when they’re ready, and live in thriving communities — and it’s going to take all of us working together.

The situation in Tennessee is dire, but not without hope. We already know how powerful our community can be, and we have no doubt that we can make it through this storm together.

ABOUT CHOICES: MEMPHIS CENTER FOR REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH CHOICES is an independent, nonprofit reproductive health clinic dedicated to empowering individuals in the Mid-South to make informed choices for and about their reproductive health. Offering services such as abortion care, hormone management for transgender patients, HIV testing and prevention, gynecological wellness care, no-cost birth control, and midwife-led prenatal care and births, CHOICES’ model of comprehensive, patient-centered care is making waves in the reproductive and sexual health community. With the opening of their new health and birth center in 2020, which includes the first

licensed birth center in Memphis, CHOICES became the only nonprofit health care provider in the country to offer both birth services and abortion care under one roof.

Holly Calvasina Development Director

hcalvasina@memphischoices.org (901)-274-3550 x 246

Hype”, Bazaar, BET, Vogue, Compulsive, Sheen, Paper, Voyage LA, Influencer, Hello Beautiful, Essence, Travel Noire and more.

Timeekah Murphy

The Embodiment of Fashion & Entrepreneurial Success

Timeekah Murphy (Army Veteran, Celebrity Fashion Designer, Actress, Influencer), the founder of Alani Taylor Co., a luxury high fashion streetwear company owner that has designed for the most influential celebs such

as Beyoncé, Cardi B, Nick Cannon, Da Baby and more. Timeekah has been featured on media outlets such as AT&T Dream in Black Future Maker Commercial, HBO Max “They When Timeekah Murphy first realized she wanted to get involved in fashion design, she was stationed at Fort Hood Texas in the army and had no idea she'd one day be designing iconic pieces for stars like Cardi B and Beyoncé. At the time, she simply knew she wasn’t being represented as a masculine female in the styles available. She carried this passion for gender fluid fashion into the creation of her own clothing line, Alani Taylor, named after her daughter after her birth in 2016. The brand proudly offers gender-free clothing that celebrates “reworked proportions,” Alani Taylor Co. is geared as both a high fashion and luxury streetwear brand bringing gender neutral fashion to the mainstream.

Q: What was your inspiration to start a fashion Line?

A: “I started teaching myself how to sew because I didn’t want to look like everyone else. I love androgynous fashion and I’m a masculine woman, so I wanted to be comfortable in my clothing and still know that I’m a woman.

Q: Why did you create an Androgynous Fashion Line?

A: There are a lot of men and women that can’t find clothes

that fit them in a comfortable

way. I get a lot of women all the time that come up to me and say ‘I finally found clothing that hides my curves as a masculine woman and I’m so glad.’ So,

I design clothing that everyone can feel comfortable in, be stylish and make heads turn all at the same time

they are more confident, they walk with their head high, and they get that confidence they always had inside. Clothes can make you stand tall or slouch. Alani Taylor helps you stand tall with your head high.”

Q: What can one expect when buying Alani Taylor’s fashions?

A: Alani Taylor’s high fashion line is high-end luxury with designer price tags. It features dropper pants, jackets, and long shirts with plenty of texture and layering in gender fluid styles and bold colors. The streetwear line features shorts, pants, hoodies, and shirts that come in unisex sizes, as well as kidswear with similar cuts and a vibrant aesthetic.

For more info on Timeekah Murphy and her brand, please visit her website:

www.alanitaylor.com