Hey John,
In a shocking (but not unsurprising) news drop late last night we learned: The Supreme Court plans to completely overturn the legal right to abortion in America.
Here's what we promise Run for Something will do: At every level of government and in every single state, we're going to need pro-choice and pro-abortion leaders in office to do whatever they can to protect access to abortion care.
We'll need pro-choice district attorneys who refuse to prosecute patients and doctors. We'll need city councils who will set up abortion funds and safe harbor ordinances for those who travel to seek care. We'll need school boards who will push for honest sex education. And we'll need state legislators who will fight fight FIGHT.
We're going to need all of them.
It won't be enough. But neither was Roe — it was always a floor, never a ceiling. But it's more than nothing.
If you care about access to abortion in this country, here are three things you can do right now:
1. Run for office. We’re going to need leaders like you to step up. There are still filing deadlines coming up for 2022, and it’s not too early to get started for 2023 or 2024.
2. Donate to the more than 80 abortion funds that do SO MUCH to make sure anyone can access abortion care. They are on the front lines every day, and we will need them more than ever right now.
3. Donate to elect pro-choice diverse young progressives to state and local office. Our alums have been fighting like hell to defend abortion access and expand it where they can. We promise we will recruit more of the same.
We're not going to lie, it's infuriating to watch Democrats in D.C. fail to act to protect abortion — hell, for being too afraid to even say the word!
In state chambers and local governments across the country, we have folks fighting with everything they've got for our reproductive freedom. Everyone from state Senator Megan Hunt filibustering for eight hours in Nebraska to successfully block an abortion ban (this is why we support candidates in "red" states!) to state Rep. Julie Gonzales passing a law that codifies the right to abortion in Colorado to Prosecuting Attorney Eli Savit promising to never prosecute a patient or provider for abortion in Washtenaw County.
We won't lie that this news is devastating. But we have never ever given up a fight, even when all hope seemed lost.
So please, take whatever you are feeling and channel it into action. Whether it's running for office, supporting candidates, funding organizations on the front lines, or all of the above. It all matters right now.
Let's go,
Amanda Litman & Ross Morales Rocketto
Co-founders
Run for Something
