Dear Friend —

This morning, the United States Supreme Court took the extreme step of overturning Roe v. Wade and ending the constitutionally protected right to an abortion. The decision will have devastating consequences and recklessly endangers the basic autonomy, health and wellbeing of women across the country. In nearly half of U.S. states today, reproductive healthcare decisions no longer rest with women and their doctors but instead exist at the whim of state legislators.

Today we are in a country with fewer rights than we had yesterday. A country where someone can be forced by the state to give birth — even if they do not want to, regardless of risks to their lives and health, and irrespective of the costs. This is a dark moment for our country, but we cannot lose hope. We must each fight back and speak up with everything we have.

Here in Long Beach and in California, we are working to protect and expand abortion access — not just for our community here, but for those in states across the country who now need to cross borders to access basic healthcare. In February, we directed our Health Department to work with Planned Parenthood and Los Angeles County to begin planning for this day and ensure everyone seeking an abortion in Long Beach and in our region is able to receive one.

Make no mistake, this is already one of the most destructive assaults on American rights in modern history — and in issuing this decision the Supreme Court has explicitly indicated a willingness to overturn other rulings protecting contraception access, LGBTQ+ rights and same-sex marriage. We cannot let that happen.

Long Beach stands with women, we believe abortion care is health care and we will not stop working to defend these most basic, and truly personal freedoms.

Thank you,

Mayor Robert Garcia