PASS Awareness Week and PASS Awareness Day

The PASS Foundation has designated June 25-29 as "PASS Awareness Week", with a special "PASS Awareness Day" on June 29th.

We chose a lilac ribbon to be worn as a "PASS Awareness" Ribbon, and the Lilac flower as the official flower. We also use the Daisy as our official "cut flower". Lilacs are usually just sold as bushes to be planted outside, so those can be used for outside flowers, and Daisies of any color can be used as "PASS Awareness" cut flowers.

Press release from PASS Awareness Day, 2001.

PASS Awareness Day 2001 is over; here are some of the highlights!:

• Alaska Maye created a flyer, and mailed flyers and letters to abortion providers, pregnancy centers (the local centers), local tv stations and the local newspaper in her area
  
• Chicken manned a booth at a health fair up in Canada, and:
  * gave out *1000* PASS Awareness Lilac colored ribbons! (they were put on in front of her too!)
  * passed out 1500 flyers! ( most at the offices)
  * talked to a gymnasium of 226 teenagers about safe sex and "alternatives" !
  *spread the word from her booth about PASS, and how to find help for it to many, many women up north!
  
• More thanks and Kudos are also due to Grace S, who came up with the idea of having a PASS Awareness week and day, and spearheaded the effort to get it all organized quickly, who also wrote the Press release
• To Shelly, who created a press contacts database, and Grace and Shelly then emailed and snail mailed out the Press Release to at least 2 newspapers in every state in the US!!
• To all the other volunteers who helped brainstorm on the Lilac idea, and the other details on making our very first PASS Awareness week a success.

Support all year 'round
How can you show your support for women and men with PASS, and spread PASS Awareness as a medical issue for women all year round? Even though PASS Awareness day and week has gone by for this year, you can still wear or distribute a lilac ribbon, write letters to your Congressperson, your local radio station, TV station and any newspapers or magazines that you read. Buy yourself Daisies to remind yourself that you are special, and deserve support and recognition for what you have been through.

You can open and print this "PASS Awareness" Flyer, in PDF format, to distribute in your area.
PASS Awareness Flyer in PDF Format

If you have trouble opening or printing this PDF file, you may need to download the latest version of Adobe Reader (it's free) Go here to download Adobe Reader.

The lilac flower has also been designated as the official flower for PASS Awareness, so you can plant lilacs, or display bouquets of lilacs in your home or work spaces, to help show your support. Daisies are our 'cut flower' so you can also plant daisies, or buy daisies to display for support.
To buy Lilacs online, you can visit our online sales support partner, iGive.com. And see if any of their floral providers have Lilacs or any purple flowers. Any purchases made through iGive shares a portion of the sales with the PASS Foundation.

For other promotional items, like mugs, T-shirts, Mousepads, see our special Promotional Items Section

PASS Awareness Week also marks the third anniversary of the PASS Online Support Site.

The PASS Foundation is a politically neutral, non-religion affiliated organization that seeks to have PASS treated as a medical issue for women, not as a political or religious one. To help with this mission, you can do your part during PASS Awareness week by writing to your local newspaper, or any magazines that you subscribe to, and ask them to help women by helping to spread PASS Awareness. A sample letter is provided below:

To (insert name of newpaper or magazine):
I am writing you today to ask your help in promoting awareness of an important health issue for women. That issue is Post Abortion Stress Syndrome, also known as "PASS". PASS is a name for a collection of problems that may affect some women after an abortion. These problems can range from mild to severe to life-threatening. The problem of PASS has been ignored by the public and medical health field in general, because of the political issues involved with PASS. Prochoice groups say PASS does not exist, Prolife groups say that it does. This has made PASS a 'political' issue instead of a medical one, and has stopped investigation into the symptoms, problems and treatment, because of the political controvesy. I feel it is important for the health and well-being of all women that we encourage investigation of PASS problems, and encourage awareness of PASS so that women affected by it can receive the proper medical treatment that they need. PASS is a medical issue, not a political one, and should be treated like other hormonal-based medical illness for women, such as Post Partum Depression (PPD) and Pre-Menstrual Dysphoric Disorder (PMDD). Please help me by investigating PASS, and publishing articles about it. More information about PASS can be found at: http://www.afterabortion.com

Sincerely,
(Insert Your Name)
You may copy and paste this into an email or a fax, or a printed letter, and send it to the publication of your choice. You should also send it to your representatives in Congress. Also feel free to add any of your own thoughts or statements to the letter.

For more information on PASS Awareness Week or the PASS Foundation, contact:

[email protected]
http://www.afterabortion.com
PASS Foundation
P.O. Box 724
Crownsville, MD 21032
If you are interested in making a donation to help support PASS Awareness, or helping to volunteer with the PASS Foundation, check out this page - Volunteer Info.