Dear John,

Today would have been the 51st anniversary of Roe v. Wade. But a year and a half ago, the Supreme Court—with three Trump Justices sealing the deal—took away the constitutional right to abortion that Roe had established. The chaos that has ensued has been incredibly demoralizing. It can feel hard to keep fighting when states like Idaho have gone all the way to the Supreme Court to refuse pregnant patients emergency care—just because that care can include abortion. It's even harder to keep fighting when the Supreme Court has temporarily allowed Idaho to uphold its laws before it even hears arguments in the case.

It's enough to throw you into a rage. So, on Roe’s anniversary, gather that rightful rage and let’s move forward together:

• Current abortion landscape: Two more abortion cases are headed to the Supreme Court. One case is whether a longstanding federal law, EMTALA, that protects your access to emergency care, including abortion, can continue to provide that protection in states with draconian bans, like Idaho. The other case is whether the Supreme Court will ignore a mountain of science to impose severe, medically unnecessary restrictions on mifepristone, one pill in a two-part medication abortion process that is the most commonly used form of abortion in the U.S. On the state level, anti-abortion lawmakers continue their attacks, including in states where voters passed—by large margins—constitutional amendments protecting abortion. We have a lot working against us, but that doesn’t mean it’s a hopeless battle.
• Why we fight back: Extremists trying to take away our rights want you to think they’ve won, that there is nothing left to fight for. But every story of a person being denied abortion care, traveling through multiple states, or seeking care in the shadows is a story that tells us that there is a lot to fight for. Abortion bans have wreaked chaos in our lives, our health care system, and our laws. This won’t end until we once again have a federal right to abortion. The path to that right features all of us. It includes the state ballots to protect abortion, the judges who are committed to respecting people’s fundamental rights, the regulations that safeguard—not deny—patient care, abortion storytelling, and so much more.
• What you can do now: There are so many ways to challenge extremism! Get creative, find your passion, look in your community! Whether you are making monthly donations to an abortion fund or local clinic, supporting a local and robust free press, fighting attacks on voting, or strengthening worker power—we need to build around our communities’ needs and uproot systems built on bigotry—supporting those most impacted by racist and sexist systems.

On this Roe anniversary, here is advice from an abortion advocate who continues to fight: People who get pregnant and need abortions, no matter where they live or how much they have in the bank, are worth fighting for. Equality, equity, and progress are worth fighting for.

Together in this fight,

Leila Abolfazli
she/her/hers
Director of National Abortion Strategy
National Women's Law Center