Dear John,

We cannot take democracy for granted. We cannot take our basic rights for granted.

Democracy and basic rights are things that happen only when we insist they must happen.

With the re-election of Donald Trump, our country faces steep, unprecedented challenges. While he has been elected before, never before has our country elected someone who publicly vowed prior to his election to be a dictator, whose admiring statements about Adolf Hitler were reported by the press, and who was pronounced a fascist by multiple members of his previous administration.

It is all but certain this man will use the apparatus of the state to crack down on reproductive justice, marginalized people, and anyone who dares stand in his way.

I often tell people that I came into this fight for abortion access from the lens of gender justice. Because I saw the hatred of misogyny most purely expressed in laws banning abortion, I came to focus my feminist activism on reproductive rights. After study and deep listening to Black women, I expanded my focus to reproductive justice.

Along this journey, I have realized that I am also fighting for democracy.

The struggle for abortion rights and democracy are intimately intertwined.

Our opponents know this, which is why they have been trying to make it harder for people to vote. This is also why they have been trying to harass, intimidate, and scare people who have supported putting abortion rights, which are popular, directly in front of voters through ballot measures.

I know in my deepest heart that these two things are true:

1. Fighting for abortion access means fighting for democracy.
2. Fighting for democracy supports the struggle for abortion access.

Reproaction will not be intimidated out of this fight. We will take the steps necessary to protect our team and our volunteer activists, and we will continue to fight like hell.

Revoking our rights as Americans depends on widespread apathy. When we fight, we can win.

If you are grieving today, it means you care. Hold on to that care. Don’t let it go.

Cordially,

Erin Matson
Co-Founder, President, & CEO, Reproaction

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