Dear John,
The Supreme Court has taken the extraordinary action of stripping American women of the right to control their bodies by overturning Roe v. Wade. This decision gives states the power to rob women of their bodily autonomy, no matter the personal cost to those women or their families. This is offensive and radical. Yesterday, the Court overruled longstanding gun safety laws in a time when massacres of children and innocent people abound. Today, they have given states the power to trample upon the rights of women to make their own decisions about their own bodies. This is hypocritical and completely out of touch with reality. It is time for the political branches to hold the judicial branch accountable – it’s time to unpack the Court.
For decades, Republicans made their politics about taking over the judicial branch of government. What today’s decision means is that the right of women over their bodies is no longer a fundamental Constitutional right, but a matter of politics. The court is unrestrained with regard to rolling back the rights of women, and we should expect they will be unrestrained when it comes to the rights of other groups of Americans, and indeed, all Americans.
A new generation of Americans is now called upon to ensure that it does not have less rights than their parents’ generation. I am in this fight with you. Let’s get to work, and make no mistake about it, we are going to prevail.
This dark decision breaks our hearts, but we must not allow it to break out spirits. As my friend and the late Congressman John Lewis said the day Justice Anthony Kennedy retired, ‘Do not get lost in a sea of despair. Be hopeful, be optimistic. Our struggle is not the struggle of a day, a week, a month, or a year, it is the struggle of a lifetime. Never, ever be afraid to make some noise and get in good trouble, necessary trouble.’
It’s time to get into some good trouble.
Note: Abortion is still legal under California state law. Under California law, a woman can access an abortion up until her fetus becomes viable, and this right is enshrined several times over.
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