As a physician who sat with women making difficult decisions about their pregnancies, I can't overstate this: overturning Roe v. Wade is dangerous — and the consequences would be horrific.

That’s why we should all be concerned that the state of Mississippi just called on the Supreme Court to overrule Roe v. Wade — the landmark reproductive rights case.

We knew this was coming. For decades, state legislatures have passed extreme, rigid abortion laws in hopes of getting them before the Supreme Court to overturn Roe. And now, they could get their way. We cannot let that happen.

Mississippi called decades of precedent that’s upheld reproductive justice against draconian anti-abortion laws “egregiously wrong.” Here’s what I believe is wrong: leaving women with almost nowhere to turn, often under the most difficult of circumstances, when they need medical care.

If the Supreme Court — which now has a conservative majority thanks to Mitch McConnell and Senate Republicans — rules in favor of Mississippi’s 15-week abortion ban, it could allow states to take away abortion access and open the floodgates to outrageous bills that could criminalize certain women’s health decisions and threaten reproductive justice at large.

I’ve watched in horror as 47 states have introduced 561 abortion restrictions since January — including in Pennsylvania. It’s a terrifying threat to women’s health.

Politicians in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, or Jackson, Mississippi, or Washington D.C., for that matter, have no business telling a woman what choices she is allowed to make for her own body.

But Mitch McConnell and Senate Republicans would love nothing more than to allow states to pass unlimited restrictions on abortion and turn back the clock on reproductive justice.

That’s why it’s so important that we expand our Democratic Senate majority and elect more leaders dedicated to protecting and expanding reproductive rights at the federal level.

That’s what I would do in the U.S. Senate. Will you chip in any amount right now to help me get to the Senate and fight for reproductive justice?

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We’re living in troubling times. But I know that if we keep up our fight, we can make it to Washington and make lasting progress on reproductive justice.

With gratitude,

Val