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A hotel in Michigan is offering free stays and transport for women travelling to the state to have an abortion .
The Yale Hotel launched the offer following a spate of restrictive abortion laws that have been passed in conservative US states such as Ohio, Missouri, Georgia and Alabama, which voted for a near-total ban on terminations, including in cases of rape and incest.
The hotel’s manager Shelley O’Brian outlined its offering in a Facebook post, writing: “Dear sisters that live in Alabama, Ohio, Georgia, Arkansas, Missouri, or any of the other states that follow with similar laws restricting access, we cannot do anything about the way you are being treated in your home-state.
“But, if you can make it to Michigan, we will support you with several nights lodging and transportation to and from your appointment.”
The post has since garnered more than 4,200 likes and 2,800 shares, with thousands of people praising O’Brian for the initiative.
Show all 13 1 /13Forgotten Women: The ordinary lives of extraordinary people Forgotten Women: The ordinary lives of extraordinary people Raped during the Kosovo war, a woman's life 20 years on Sihana was in a house full of women and children when she was raped by a member of the Serbian paramilitary. The men took five of the younger women into separate rooms; one of them had given birth just four days before. “They raped us until they’d had enough. The children were screaming, the old women were screaming, we were screaming,” Sihana says. The Kosovo war ended 20 years ago, but its effects are all too present for this young nation. Approximately 20,000 women and girls were raped during the 14-month conflict; thousands of people remain missing – both Albanian and Serbian – with multiple mass graves uncovered over the last two decades.
Tom Ford
Forgotten Women: The ordinary lives of extraordinary people How a child bride left her abusive husband in the nation with the highest rate of underage marriage Hadiza was walking home from school one day when people started calling out: “The young bride! The young bride!” The 14-year-old had no idea who they were talking about, and kept on walking. She returned home to find her mother crying but when Hadiza asked her sisters why their mother was so upset, no one answered. This would be the start of Hadiza’s new life as a child bride. Every year 12 million girls are married before they turn 18. Niger has the highest prevalence of child brides, with 76 per cent of girls married by 18, and 28 per cent by 15 in the West African nation. In some regions, girls as young as 10 are married, and after the age of 25, very few women remain unmarried.
Tom Ford
Forgotten Women: The ordinary lives of extraordinary people How women get into the sex industry - and how they get out of it Rachel Lloyd was forced to leave her school in England after her abusive, alcoholic stepfather drained her mother’s finances then left the family. As an underage teen she was raped by an adult and battled with substance abuse. After moving to Germany, her boyfriend – who was a crack addict – eventually became her pimp. This is by no means an isolated tale. Studies show anywhere from 50 to 90 per cent of women who end up in the sex industry were sexually abused as children. Poverty is another driving force that sees women turn to prostitution. Although some people may choose to work in the sex industry, many are forced into it by circumstance.
Tom Ford
Forgotten Women: The ordinary lives of extraordinary people How one woman escaped FGM and saved thousands more from the cut When she was eight, Nice Nailantei Leng’ete ran away to avoid being cut. Along with her elder sister, she left her home in the early hours of the morning and hid. When their uncles found the girls, they beat them. “When I was hiding in the trees I was thinking: 'Will they find me and force me to go through FGM? I saw death because of circumcision and I was worried that I might die, or if I did not die I would not be able to go back to school and I would be married.'” Nice is from a Maasai community in Kilmana, Kenya, a nation where the practice has been prevalent for centuries.
Tom Ford
Forgotten Women: The ordinary lives of extraordinary people Displaced women in Syria are fighting for change Seven years into a civil war that has left devastation in its wake, campaigns and aid are beginning to dry up in Syria. The suffering of those still facing untold hardships is fading from public view as the world moves on to the latest crisis. Thousands are still displaced, living with limited access to basic necessities such as food, electricity and fuel. Unknown numbers are detained or missing. Many of those left behind are women doing what they can to support their families, often mourning the loss of loved ones. Even though there are fewer battlefields, fighting continues, leaving civilians in mortal danger. The message from women in Syria rings clear: “I want you to feel our suffering.”
Tom Ford
Forgotten Women: The ordinary lives of extraordinary people A woman's tale of gun violence and domestic abuse Gun violence in the United States has become so destructive and all-encompassing, Amnesty International have branded it a human rights crisis. Despite 80 per cent of all gun deaths in the world taking place in America and 30,000 adults and children dying every year in the nation, Congress has done little in recent years. With gun control a divisive issue that some fear to touch due to voter backlash and the right to bear arms enshrined in the second amendment, the government has been quiet. Zero gun control laws have been passed in Congress in the last three years.
Tom Ford
Forgotten Women: The ordinary lives of extraordinary people The sisters fighting religious extremism in Pakistan Saba Ismail woke up in her Brooklyn home to a voicemail from her sister, Gulalai. She was calling to say she had been apprehended by Pakistan officials upon landing in Islamabad after a flight from London. The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) told Gulalai she had been put on an exit control list (ECL) and was going to be immediately detained. “The space is shrinking and closing out spaces for civic voices, voices who are raising for peace,” Gulalai says in the message recorded as she was being detained.
Illustration by Tom Ford
Forgotten Women: The ordinary lives of extraordinary people The terrifying crisis of North America's murdered and missing indigenous women It is North America’s dark, open secret that native women are far more likely to be raped, and far more likely to be murdered. No justice. That is the constant cry from friends and families of victims as countless cases are left unresolved and ignored. Marita Growing Thunder, a 19-year-old Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women (MMIW) activist from Montana, has experienced this lack of justice – five times.
Tom Ford
Forgotten Women: The ordinary lives of extraordinary people Why violence in Zimbabwe is more than just political As with so many other countries, women and girls are constant targets for violence in Zimbabwe. Data from Zimbabwe National Statistics Office indicates sexual assault is on the rise. From 2010 to 2016 there was a 42 per cent increase in rape cases, with at least 21 people raped every day. Taking into account the fact that many don’t report sexual violence, this figure is likely higher.
Womankind Worldwide
Forgotten Women: The ordinary lives of extraordinary people How Rwanda rose to the top of the world for women's representation The only one of 14 siblings to survive, with four children of her own as well as nieces to look after, Vestine survived the Rwandan genocide. Unique conditions grew from the horror, leading Rwanda to become a female-led African nation. As Vestine says, “Our genocide is not something that can be easily forgotten but we try to live with them and work with fellow citizens for the development of our nation. I can say that Rwanda has tremendously tried to rebuild itself. We remember our loved ones who perished during 1994 genocide against Tutsi as we rebuild ourselves. We have enough security in our nation and we are all working together to rebuild our nation. Specifically, women are rebuilding.” With male bias dominating so many nations, Rwanda shows that not only can a country thrive and grow with proper gender representation, but that it can help a nation heal from the unimaginable.
Illustrations by Tom Ford
Forgotten Women: The ordinary lives of extraordinary people Why women in South Africa are carrying the burden of HIV South Africa has the biggest HIV epidemic in the world, with 7.1 million people living with the virus. There is a huge gender disparity in infection rates, with nearly four times the number of young women infected than men their age. Not only are women disproportionately infected, but there is another burden tying them to this life-changing illness - childbirth. Many women have been unknowingly infected with HIV, then unknowingly passed it on to their children.
Tom Ford
Forgotten Women: The ordinary lives of extraordinary people One Syrian mother's remarkable journey to find her son More than 500,000 people have died since the Syrian conflict began in 2011. With thousands of men imprisoned or killed at the hands of Isis and the Syrian army, many women are left behind fighting for survival, without even the solace of knowing whether their husbands and sons are dead or alive.
Tom Ford
Forgotten Women: The ordinary lives of extraordinary people The fight against brutal land grabs in Uganda A 30-year-old mother with six children, Patience is doing everything she can to rebuild her life. Her husband, Isaac, died four years ago in a Ugandan land grab, which saw her family forcefully evicted so a sugar factory could be built on the land. “One day, we were at home and we heard screams. There was so much violence. Guns, teargas and machetes. If you delayed they burned down your house. I heard screams everywhere and I started running. They took our goats, cows, chickens and our whole home.”
WomanKind Worldwide
“Thank you for being brave enough to support a woman’s right to choose,” commented one person.
Another added: “Thank you for supporting women everywhere in such a strong, bold way!”
O’Brian also responded to anti-abortion activists who criticised her for the offer.
To one person, she wrote: “I cannot turn my back on my sisters who are struggling. I appreciate your contribution.
"If I had my way, abortion wouldn’t be necessary ... but for as long as it is, I will stand with my sisters.”
O’Brian reiterated her views in a statement to CNN , “Women should have autonomy over their own bodies. I f we do not have control over our own bodies, then this is not a free world.”
The hotel manager added that a woman has yet to take her up on the offer, but she has a room ready and waiting for when they do.
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