Friend,

We knew this was coming and we’ve been preparing for this decision, but you can never prepare for the emotional toll.

Devastation, hurt, and anger are just a few of the feelings coursing through our bodies, and yet we must remain hopeful that our candidates and our mission will continue to push forward.

It’s a lot to take in, it’s a lot to handle, and as the dust settles and we come to terms with our new post-Roe reality in which nine states have already effectively banned abortion (Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Utah and Wisconsin), we know that our work is a marathon, not a sprint.

That means not burning ourselves out.

So we want to share some coping mechanisms that may be helpful to utilize if and when you start to feel your body tense up or your mind begin to race.

Different strategies work for different people, but here are some strategies that mental health professionals commonly recommend:

Breathe: inhale through your nose and exhale for longer than you inhale, either through your nose or through pursed lips. A suggested rhythm is to inhale for four counts, hold for two and exhale for six to eight counts. By doing this you are activating the part of your nervous system that helps your body calm itself.

Validate Your Experience: what you’re going through is actually a normal response to abnormal experiences. It’s important to remind yourself of this as you go through challenging symptoms because self-validation is an important piece of healing. Remember, the dismantling of our democracy is not normal.

Target the feeling in your body: stress causes physical tension, which different people hold in different parts of the body. Try to locate where your stress-as-tension might be residing — whether that’s in the chest, stomach, shoulders, etc. Once you’ve located it, close your eyes and see if you can visualize whatever that emotion is as moving in a spiral. Then, identify whether it seems to be moving clockwise or counterclockwise — and once you figure that out, attempt to move it in the opposite direction.

Five fingers, five senses: stressful events can sometimes trigger a dissociative state, in which you really feel like you’re not “in” your body, or you’re watching things unfold from afar. Try the “five fingers, five senses” exercise: In as much detail as possible, identify five things you can see, four things you can touch, three things you can hear, two things you can smell, and one thing you can taste.

Move your body: in whatever way you choose — rage dance, jumping jacks, 10-minute walk or run, stretching, punching a pillow.

This is a lot.

If you’ve done some calming and now you’re ready to take action, we’re including our email from yesterday with some action items.

We know this fight is hard, and we’re with you.

We’re not going anywhere,

#VOTEPROCHOICE

—Original Message—

Friend,

Today, millions of Americans are waking up with their federal right to comprehensive reproductive healthcare ripped out from under their feet.

We are heartbroken. We are furious. But we are resolute. Since the draft opinion was leaked, millions of people—inspired by righteous rage—have been spurred into action.

What will follow will be a flurry of court cases, legislation, confusion, and forced-birth, all by design. They have been waiting for this moment for 50 years.

Conservatives across the country have been laying the groundwork for the overturning of Roe v. Wade—and we’ve warned that the federal Democratic infrastructure wasn’t enough to turn the tide.

Democratic leadership failed to meet this pending threat, which we’ve been sounding the alarm on long before the leaked draft opinion.

In states where abortion is already inaccessible, or states with trigger laws now going into effect, abortion patients, including people who suffer miscarriages or ectopic pregnancies, may be subject to criminalization.

This ruling further erodes our democracy, ignoring the will of the people who overwhelmingly support access to abortion services.

And the shoddy legal grounds for this ruling opens the door for rollbacks across all our civil rights and liberties, from queer rights to racial justice.

At #VOTEPROCHOICE, we remain steadfast in our fight to elect bold, pro-choice candidates at every level. Our fight must be in state houses, city halls, school boards, and District Attorneys’ offices all over the country.

To secure access to an abortion, every candidate everywhere can and must be a prochoice candidate ready to act as a first line of defense for our communities. That's why we continue to organize up and down the ballot for candidates fearless enough to fight back against the anti-choice mission to control our bodies.

We will not rest until the right to an abortion is guaranteed and accessible to everyone.

We all must rise up to meet the moment with everything we have. Not everyone can donate, but if you're able, here are some different ways you can join the work and join the movement.

If you're a patient and need resources where you can get an abortion: