Woman Power: Indiana Fever Players Support Women's Healthcare at Fundraiser

Two Indiana Fever players, Brianna Turner and Kelsey Mitchell, used their platform to support women's healthcare at a fundraiser event called "Playing for Our Lives." The event was organized by the Indiana Reproductive Freedom PAC to raise awareness about the lack of access to reproductive health care in the state.

Mitchell said, “Even though we have an athletic lifestyle, we still believe in, what we believe in. I think this is something that’s important to both of us.”

Turner shared a personal story about a teammate who had to get an abortion and expressed her support for reproductive health care rights. Mitchell also shared a story about her twin sister, who became pregnant while playing basketball at The Ohio State University and had an abortion.

The event highlighted the state's near-total abortion ban and the lack of access to maternal care, particularly for marginalized mothers. Liane Hulka, executive director of the Indiana Reproductive Freedom PAC, emphasized that the organization is working to elect politicians who support reproductive health care access in Indiana.

Turner said, “Obviously, that’s her right, and I think I’m happy she got the opportunity to get that. She was in the state where she was able to get the abortion, but then again I think it’s just such a stigma. Even me saying that, a lot of people are like ‘woah, like what’s going on? How could she even say that?’ But, I support my teammates’ reproductive health care rights.”

Mitchell shared her sister's experience, saying, “Many people don’t know that we came in together to play basketball, but so much more of life happened, and my sister ended up being pregnant on the team. She had an abortion. It was hard. She needed all the help and support she could get from family, teammates and health care workers.”

Hulka said, “Indiana was the first out of the gate to actively ban abortion. Unfortunately, most Hoosiers are not aware that Indiana has a total abortion ban, and so we have to keep working. We have to keep trying. We have to keep having community events like this — networking, donor fundraiser events — to make sure that every Hoosier recognizes that they don’t have equal rights.”

The event aimed to raise over $100,000, with proceeds supporting the PAC's mission to elect politicians who support and expand reproductive health care access in Indiana.