Dear John,

The Supreme Court affirmed the right to abortion care 47 years ago today in Roe v. Wade, legalizing abortion in every state in the country. Since then, Roe has been under siege, leaving in place a patchwork of access, where someone’s ability to get abortion care relies on their zip code and income level.

While the Supreme Court wields enormous power, each state determines what abortion access actually looks like for its residents.

As I wrote in an op-ed for The Nation today, we're writing a new playbook for securing abortion access by focusing on passing proactive laws to protect and expand access to abortion at the state level. We worked for a decade in New York to pass the Reproductive Health Act, which was signed into law a year ago today, recognizing abortion as a fundamental right and ensuring greater access to abortion care.

And NIRH is working in states across the country to ensure that proactive momentum extends well beyond New York -- and that strategy is working. In 2019 alone, more states passed proactive protections for abortion rights and expanded access than in any previous year. And, as The Nation piece explains, the tide is turning as voters across the country demand protections for abortion access, and state legislators begin to see protecting and expanding access as central to their mandate.

John, the future of Roe is unclear. But here’s what I know for certain: we are limitless in our ability to create change when we are loud and proud supporters of safe, legal, affordable and stigma-free abortion access for all. In 2020, we have the opportunity – in state legislatures, in the voting booth, and in the streets – to show that the victories we secured in 2019 were just the beginning.

Thank you for all that you do.

In solidarity,