Friends – the Supreme Court has officially overturned Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey. 

What this means is that the era of federal protections for abortion rights is now over. Access to essential and often life-saving healthcare is a right that should never be criminalized in the United States, but unfortunately we know that abortion will be banned in the coming days in dozens of states around the country. 

Friend, I share your anger, your frustration, and your fear. I’ve fought for reproductive justice for years, co-sponsoring the Women’s Health Protection Act and advocating for the right to make decisions about one’s own body. It is unconscionable to me that six unelected people have managed to set the clock back decades, harming millions of Americans in the process. 

Let’s do something productive about this anger, as New Yorkers do. After all, our city and state are known as a beacon of reproductive freedom due to years of organizing, legislating, and advocating. Many others are not so lucky, and in the coming days will find themselves living in states where abortion is completely outlawed due to state legislatures’ trigger laws. 

On this day, I invite you to step in and send in a donation to the New York Abortion Access Fund, which helps people living in other states access care in New York that they would not otherwise receive. In dark times, we must do what we can to strengthen our community and ensure that every single person is cared for, no matter the shortcomings of our Supreme Court or any other institutions that fail our most marginalized folks. 

We’re in this together, friends.

–Yvette D. Clarke