Planning District Office Visits for Reproductive Freedom

District office visits are a great choice for an action. You can customize them to fit the tone and message you’re going for, they’re effective with both large and small groups of people, and they can be as simple or involved as you want. Some office visits start with a rally and media interviews, have big props to leave at the office, and lots of attendees. Some office visits are a small handful of people simply speaking with their MoC or their staff – both are effective!

This one pager will give you an overview of how to plan an office visit to your Democratic MoC. We have a more in-depth resource called “Building a Relationship with Your MoC” that goes into more detail about lobby meetings, office visits, and establishing a relationship with your MoC’s office.

Summary

To make any district office visit successful you’ll want to:

• Choose a date and time where staff and/or your MoC are likely to be there. If you have a contact in the office, you can reach out to them, or use the scheduling request form on the MoC’s website, or just pop in.
• Prep your main message and what you’ll say – in this case you’ll be asking your MoC to co-sponsor three reproductive freedom bills, and thank them if they already have.
• Consider bringing some sort of materials to leave at the office such as thank you cards, one-pagers, information about your group, or personal letters to your MoC.
• Consider advising your event to the media, either way take lots of pictures and videos.

Reproductive Freedom Agenda

We have identified three important bills that together would protect the freedoms of people seeking abortions and other reproductive care. You can click here to learn more about each bill, but here’s the summary:

• H.R. 782: Ensuring Women’s Right to Reproductive Freedom Act; Affirms and protects the right to travel out-of-state for an abortion
• H.R. 3420: My Body, My Data Act of 2023; Protects data privacy of personal reproductive health information
• H.R. 4303: Abortion Justice Act; Protects and expands meaningful access to abortion for all

Has your MoC cosponsored?

Click on each bill and then navigate to the “Cosponsors” tab to see a complete list of Reps who have cosponsored the bill. Make a list of which bills your MoC has cosponsored and which they haven’t yet. The main purpose of your visit is to thank them for cosponsoring any of the three bills they have so far, and to ask them to cosponsor the others.

What to say

When you go into the office, someone should be prepared to kick things off by walking up to the front desk to tell them who you are and why you’re there: you’re a local Indivisible group or activist and you’d like to speak with your MoC about three bills that would protect abortion access and reproductive freedom. Ask if the MoC is available or if you can deliver your message to a staff member, such as the district director.

You can find talking points for each bill here with some details about what’s in each bill and messaging you can use with your MoC and the press. The most important thing you bring to these office visits is your personal story, why you care about this issue. You can share as much or as little as you’re comfortable with – what makes the biggest impact is showing up and demonstrating how important this issue is to you and other voters in your district. You don’t need to know all the wonky ins and outs of any of the bills, you are a constituent not a lobbyist. If you’re asked a question you don’t know the answer to, simply write it down and report it back to your organizer.

Your north star is to thank your MoC for cosponsoring any of the three bills and to ask them to cosponsor any they haven’t yet. Tell them about each bill, share your personal stories, and ask them “We’re counting on you and other Democrats to protect reproductive freedom. Will you cosponsor H.R. XXX and H.R. XXX?”

Sample agenda

30 – 15 minutes before: Gather outside of the office to get ready, go over what everyone is doing and saying. If you have any materials you’re using or dropping off at the office, get those prepped. If you’ve invited the media, make sure your speakers and spokespeople are good to go. At least one person should also be set to take pictures and videos.

Before the event: Greet any reporters who show up. If you’ve recruited beyond your core team for the event, sign everyone in so you can follow-up with them.

(Optional) Kick-off rally or speaking program: Two or three speakers talk for about 3 minutes each about the importance of securing reproductive freedoms against extremist attacks. If applicable, publicly thank your MoC for their leadership on this issue.

If press is there, just before heading inside: Ask if they would like to speak to your spokesperson. They can also speak to others who showed up.

Visit: Head inside and start your visit!

After the visit: Thank everyone for coming and take a group picture before people leave. Make sure you’ve signed in any new faces so you can follow up with them.

Thank you for planning an office visit to your MoC! Don’t forget about our in-depth resource “Building a Relationship with Your MoC”, and reach out to your organizer or supportteam@indivisible.org for help.