My grandmother didn’t have the right. My mother was born without but gained it in her toddlerhood. I was born and raised with it. But at the age of 23, a far-right Supreme Court took away my bodily autonomy and yours too. My hope is it will be returned in my lifetime, but as I write this – it is not a fundamental right in America that we can make our own medical decisions. At least not as it pertains to our uteruses.
While today marks the 50th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision, it is not a celebration. It is a mourning. Since Dobbs v. Jackson’s Womens Health ended Roe, 24 states have or will ban abortions. We’ve already seen these bans result in uncountable tragic scenarios – young girls being forced into birth, delayed or denied care resulting in dying pregnant people. I am sorry that this is your world now. I am disgusted that we couldn’t give you a better, more liberated world that we had. I am sorry we’ve gone backward.
But we will not stop trying. Abortions have saved lives for generations – may have been the only thing saving someone from their abuser, been the only way a mother could continue to feed her current children, been an unwanted but necessary procedure for someone with life-threatening pregnancy complications.
I’m still learning to navigate a post-Roe world, so I don’t know yet what it will be like.
But here’s my invitation – my generation wants to fight alongside yours. Now is the time for new strategies, new visions. Please don’t be disheartened. Together we can make change still. We have to be loud; we must vote; we need to donate to abortion funds. It looks different than 1973 in a lot of ways, but the urgency to save our lives and maintain our fundamental rights remains.
As we reimagine what this future could be, it’s important to remember that we need more than Roe. All people, in any community, should have access to abortion. States should not have loopholes that restrict abortions, even when technically legal. Or pass laws that shame those needing an abortion. Abortion clinics should not be the frequent targets of violent attacks by those labeled as “pro-life.”
Roe was the basis that we needed in order to fight for more – but now we start over. And then we’ve got a long way to go.
