April 18, 2022
An Open Letter and Call for Unified Action to
Stop The Supreme Court from Taking Away the Constitutional Right to Abortion
To all people of conscience, all social justice organizations and freedom fighters, all pro-choice organizations and leaders, everyone who cares about women and LGBTQ people, everyone who does not want to see the state force anyone to bear a child against their will, everyone who cares about the lives of Black people and other people of color, all who worry for the present political, social, and environmental reality, and all who are concerned for the future:
We want to invite and involve you in a unified day of mass protest on May 14, 2022, to declare our collective refusal to let the U.S. Supreme Court decimate abortion rights.
The U.S. Supreme Court is on track to take away the right to abortion this spring by decimating Roe v. Wade, which decided in 1973 that in order for women to be recognized as equal, they must have the right to terminate a pregnancy – to decide for themselves when and whether to bear a child. The end of Roe v. Wade would constitute one of the most significant reversals of a fundamental human and civil right in this country’s history.
We are people of many different backgrounds, beliefs, sexual orientations, and genders, yet this emergency demands that we act together and do all we can to stop this.
The reversal of abortion rights would do immeasurable harm to generations of women and girls and everyone who can become pregnant. It would strengthen and accelerate the escalating attacks on contraception, LGBTQ rights, voting rights, the lives and true history of Black people and other people of color, immigrants, and many more. Acquiescing to this loss, rather than fighting now to defeat it, would also contribute to the dangerous dynamic where people will be forced to adjust to and “work within” greater and greater atrocities.
It is in the best interests of every individual and organization who cares about justice to come together to draw a line and declare what is needed in a unified day of mass protest: “Abortion On Demand and Without Apology! We Refuse to Let the Supreme Court Take Away the Right to Abortion!” The first of these slogans express what millions of people need and want. The second speaks to what must be done.
Of course, various organizations and individuals will bring along their additional analysis, slogans, and broader missions to these unified protests. This is not only welcome but needed, since such diversity will strengthen our collective power. History has shown the terrible cost paid by all people when those with divergent views were unable to rise above personal ego, petty disputes, and sectarian squabbles at critical turning points. In contrast, let us unite all who can be unified from different perspectives and viewpoints, around the great unifying objective to stop the Supreme Court from decimating a long-established constitutional right that is central to millions of lives and society as a whole.
We send this letter to you and issue it publicly as a critical step in reaching out to strategize and work together to realize a great rising of people of conscience to act in a unified way to stop the Supreme Court from dragging history backward, and all that would mean for each one of us.
Please reach us at initiators@riseup4abortionrights.org.
Signed,
Merle Hoffman, CEO & Founder of Choices Women’s Medical Center, initiator of Rise Up 4 Abortion Rights
Lori Sokol, Executive Director of Women’s eNews, initiator of Rise Up 4 Abortion Rights
Sunsara Taylor, The RNL – Revolution, Nothing Less – Show, initiator of Rise Up 4 Abortion Rights