Seven Things You Can Do Right Now For Abortion Rights

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On Friday, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a ruling overturning Roe v. Wade and paving the way for states across the country to ban abortion outright. Twenty-five U.S. states are expected take action to ban abortion.  Since the ruling three days ago, six states have already eliminated abortion access entirely—denying people access to essential, lifesaving health care. More states plan to act to ban abortion in the hours and days to come.  

Here are seven things you can do today to help people seeking care: 

1. Donate to abortion funds. Abortion funds directly support people seeking abortion care—including financial and practical support like transportation, lodging and language translation—and are a critical part of ensuring abortion access. 

2. Donate to independent abortion clinics at Keep Our Clinics. Small, community-based clinics provide the majority of abortion care in the U.S. and are more likely to be located in states hostile to abortion rights. When clinics close, entire communities lose access to abortion and other essential reproductive and sexual health services. 

3. Show up and protest. Attend a rally or event near you—and make your voice heard. Events supporting abortion access are continuing across the U.S.—visit the We Won’t Go Back map and find one near you. 

4. Speak up and activate your network. Speak to your friends, family, business colleagues, professional associates, community leaders—and anyone else you can think of—and tell them why the right to abortion is so essential to a person’s life and future. Activate your networks by creating your own message or sharing some sample #AbortionIsEssential posts.  

5. Learn more about abortion laws in your state. Click through the Center’s interactive “What if Roe Fell?” tool to learn about the laws in your state and all other states—and which states protect abortion, and which are likely to ban it.  

6. Find out where your lawmakers stand on abortion rights. Do you know where your local, state, and federal legislators stand on abortion rights? Call or email them to find out—and urge them to act now to protect abortion rights and access in law. 

7. Tell Congress to protect abortion access by passing the Women’s Health Protection Act (WHPA). Congress can and should act immediately to protect the right to access abortion in every state. WHPA would protect abortion access from state-level abortion bans and restrictions, despite the Supreme Court’s ruling overturning Roe.   

The Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization will harm millions of people seeking abortion care—especially those who already face discriminatory obstacles to health care including women, Black, Indigenous, and other people of color, people with disabilities, people in rural areas, young people, immigrants, and those having difficulty making ends meet.

As Justices Breyer, Sotomayor and Kagan stated in their dissent, “After today, young women will come of age with fewer rights than their mothers and grandmothers had… The majority’s refusal even to consider the life-altering consequences of reversing Roe and Casey is a stunning indictment of its decision…” 

We must continue to act—today and every day—to work toward a future when every person, in every state, has the right to access abortion.

Read more: 

• U.S. Supreme Court Takes Away the Right to Abortion, 06.24.2022 
• “What if Roe Fell?” U.S. State Abortion Laws Map 
• Case Background: Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization