WOMAN TURNED RAGE INTO A RESOURCES FORUM ON FACEBOOK

When the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, Veronica Risinger started what she thought would be a tiny Facebook group for her neighbors in Kansas City, Mo., to share resources for people seeking abortions.

But Risinger’s phone notifications never stopped. Her little group has morphed into a 30,000-member nationwide nexus for rage, heartfelt personal stories and education among people anxious about a postroe America.

Risinger doesn’t understand how her Facebook group grew so large. At one point, she said, there were 10,000 people waiting to join the private group, USA Camping Resource Center. (“Camping” is a code word used in some online conversations about abortion.)

She wasn’t ready for the time commitment or the responsibility of providing people with a place to express their feelings and to find information about the fast-changing legal status of abortion in the United States. But she feels that she must do the best she can.

“I don’t want to be doing this, but this is the world that we’re living in,” Risinger said.

That one woman became an unwitting leader of a large forum for abortion rights supporters shows that Facebook remains a place where Americans hash out their hopes and fears. As it did for Facebook groups that sprang up to promote the false claim of widespread 2020 election fraud, emotion can help online communities go viral in ways that surprise their creators and the company itself.

On the morning the court’s decision was announced, Risinger was at work. Within minutes of the news, her home state of Missouri enacted a “trigger law” banning abortion.

“I was filled with such rage,” she said. “I thought, OK, I can give people a place where they can get together.”

People have flooded the Facebook group, telling raw personal stories about having an abortion or being denied one. And they ask many questions about how these bans could affect them.

Risinger said that one woman in Missouri messaged the group because she was worried about her legal risk from a planned procedure for implanted birth control. (Birth control remains legal across the country.) Women also asked whether data from periodtracking apps might be used by law enforcement to build a case against them for having an abortion. (Periodtracking apps can be a risk, but other data can be more incriminating.)

For those seeking information, the group directs people as much as possible to authoritative sources, including organizations experienced in abortion advocacy and assistance.

People seem to find out about the group mostly by word of mouth, and the response has amazed Risinger, who now finds herself moderating posts at all hours, including minutes after running a race last Saturday.

People who want to join the group must first answer why they support “camping.” (Some people apparently believe it’s a Facebook group about the outdoors.) Each newcomer as well as each post is approved by a moderator, of which there are now about 20, whom Risinger enlisted after the group became too big for one person to handle.

To protect people from the safety risks that could come with offering rides or homes to strangers, the group started to block posts that proposed personal assistance for abortion appointments.

Facebook’s critics have said for years that groups on the site have become hubs for unchecked conspiracy theories or health misinformation. And fringe groups on Facebook and elsewhere online have spread false ideas or calls to violence in response to the Roe ruling. After Facebook flagged some comments in Risinger’s group for breaking the company’s rules against violence and incitement, she told members to stop suggesting violence as a solution to problems.