In June 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the Roe v. Wade decision, unraveling reproductive rights and allowing states to ban abortion. After more than 50 years of constitutional protection, abortion is once again illegal in Kentucky.
On Saturday, May 24, ARTPOTRAL (1535 Lytle St.) will host an Abortion Access Resource Fair. The event is free and open to the public. The idea was inspired by the quarterly resource fair hosted by the Louisville Pride Foundation at PORTAL, the adjacent space in the same building, where organizations converge to educate and build community around health and wellness in the LGBTQ community.
Abortion Access Resource Fair is narrower in its scope — and sharper in its focus — than the regularly occurring informational fairs. The theme of this event is abortion access in a post-Roe v. Wade America. But the goal of the event is the same as the quarterly events: cultivate community, raise funds, and open a dialogue in a safe space about what abortion actually is.
“Abortion is health care, it’s birth control, it’s survival,” said Kaleigh Basso, owner of Set & Setting bookstore located in the ARTPORTAL building. “Abortion is also world-building, something that we’ll discuss in more depth at the event. I don’t want to give too much away. No spoilers.”
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From Readathons to Resource Fairs
Set & Setting sells new and used books with an emphasis on literary fiction and “radical leftist” nonfiction, as well as stationery goods, puzzles, and gift items, in what Basso describes as Louisville’s “teeniest tiniest” bookstore.
Basso is a member of the online community of bookish people, comprised of authors, publishers, readers, reviewers, and booksellers. In 2023, community member and BookTok influencer Sim Kern conceptualized the Trans Rights Readathon. The online event was organized by a small group of people but has since developed into a global event.
The goal of the Trans Rights Readathon is to raise money for trans-led organizations and trans mutual aid funds. Participants donate a certain amount of money per book written by or featuring trans people, and others match their donations. The next event is March 21–31, 2025.
“Every year I’ve participated, I’ve been able to donate a chunk of money to Kentucky Health Justice Network’s Trans Health Advocacy program, which is what began my relationship with them,” Basso said.
Kentucky Health Justice Network (KHJN) offers direct support, education, and outreach to Kentuckians, guided by the reproductive justice framework, which has been developed by women and BIPOC people. “We believe reproductive rights are human rights, and that all people should be able to decide if, when, and how to parent,” they said in a statement on their website.
In October 2024, Kimberly Temple of KHJN asked Basso to be the official bookseller for KHJN’s author talks at Take Root, a coalition-building conference that strengthens local efforts and promotes reproductive rights in conservative environments like Kentucky and Indiana.
“It was my first time doing an author event, and I’m so grateful [KHJN] took a chance on me, seeing as I hadn’t even been open as a brick and mortar for a full year yet.” KHJN let Plan C organizer Imani Askew-Shabazz know about Basso and Set & Setting, and the connection among the organizations was fortified.
Plan C is a public health creative campaign all about abortion pill access. Initiated in 2015 by a small group of experienced public health advocates, researchers, and social justice activists, Plan C strives to normalize the self-directed option of abortion pills by mail. Their vision is of “a near future in which the ability to end an early pregnancy is directly in the hands of anyone who seeks it,” according to a statement on their website.
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The Abortion Access Resource Fair is part of the Plan C Community Road Trip, in which they are bringing events centered around abortion access and reproductive justice to all 50 states between the end of April and early November. Imani floated a bunch of ideas from events they’ve helped organize in the past, and landed on a resource fair from there.
What to expect at the event
“The political climate as it stands is abysmal; we are becoming an increasingly hostile and isolated society,” Basso said. “Fascism requires apathy, fear, and exhaustion as a means of control; in order to thrive, people must feel hopeless and like they cannot depend on anyone.”
Basso’s hope for the Abortion Access Resource Fair is to bring Louisvillians together to assure them that there are people in Louisville who are doing vital work in reproductive justice and who are available to help.
“Beyond community, my hope is that people leave this event knowing that there are ways they can take some control, some agency, back,” Basso said. “We are not doomed. There is no reason to lie down and give up. We have each other, and there are meaningful ways to get involved in our communities and help our neighbors.”
The organizers of the Abortion Access Resource Fair aspire to expand awareness of possibilities in reproductive justice. “We must build something, together, for when this system fails us for the last time.”
It is not yet known what will happen next or how Kentucky or the U.S. will transform in coming years. This event strives to be a part of the development of something new and healing. “It seems like a lot for an event about abortion access, but all liberation is connected, and abortion is world building.”
Abortion Access Resource Fair
ARTPORTAL
1535 Lytle St.
Saturday, May 24
12:00 p.m.–4:00 p.m.
Free admission
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This article appears in May 9-22, 2025.