The most powerful thing you can do in a fight over information isn't to correct the lies. It's to make sure the truth gets there first.

Most people don't form their opinions about reproductive healthcare by reading policy briefs or legal decisions. They form them through stories — what they hear from a friend, what they see online, what gets repeated often enough to feel true. That's always been true. And for years, opponents of abortion access have known it. They've built entire networks designed to shape how people understand pregnancy, healthcare, and personal decision-making, not through facts, but through carefully crafted narratives designed to confuse, shame, and steer people away from real care.

And it works. Not because people are uninformed or careless. But because stories are powerful. They fill in gaps. They simplify complicated decisions. They stick.

Which is exactly why we can't keep playing defense.

At Pro-Choice North Carolina, that's the work we're committed to.

That means getting honest about what people are actually seeing and hearing—especially young people—rather than assuming we already know. It means testing what resonates, building tools that advocates and educators can actually use, and showing up in communities with information that fits where they are. What's needed in Ahoskie is not the same as what's needed in Charlotte. Generic talking points from somewhere else don't cut it.

It means investing in young leaders who already understand how information moves in digital spaces where opinions get shaped long before anyone walks into a clinic or opens a policy brief.

And it means telling true stories, loudly and often: stories from supporters, from young leaders, from communities across this state that are already doing this work. Every true story told is a counter-narrative. Every truth we tell makes it a little harder for lies to fill the gap.