We all feel hopeless, terrified, and furious. Six unelected judges have stripped away our right to safe and legal abortion, the right to control our own bodies and lives. If 26 states including Wisconsin implement their existing abortion bans, the share of those seeking abortions who live over 200 miles away from an abortion clinic will skyrocket from 1 to 29 percent.
Our most marginalized community members will be disproportionately impacted by restrictions and criminalization. Many Black, Brown, transgender, working class, and poor people already live in a post-Roe America and know the stakes of this fight are nothing less than life and death. Safe surgical abortion is becoming a privilege permitted to those who can afford to travel out of state and avoid law enforcement, but we claim it is a fundamental human right.
We will not be consumed by despair. We possess the courage to provide safe abortion access by any means necessary, from distributing abortion pills to transporting people to clinics for surgical abortions. Regardless of the Supreme Court, people will continue to conduct safe self managed abortions at home with the support of doulas, midwives, and friends. Mifepristone and Misoprostol are safe, effective, and affordable abortion pills available for purchase online. We must strengthen mutual aid networks that help people to access safe and legal abortion care across state lines, organize strategic campaigns to eliminate restrictions in Wisconsin and beyond, and finally some of us must be brave and take risks to ensure that everyone can access safe abortions, with or without state permission.
We enjoin all who are committed to reproductive justice to stand, speak, and march with us in our work to #StrikeTheBan and ensure safe, legal abortion access in Wisconsin. Sign our petition at striketheban.com and join us at the Wisconsin State Capitol for a rally and march at 5pm today. You can help people have abortions by donating money to the Wisconsin Women’s Medical Fund at wiabortionfund.org.
