Alliance for Girls statement on Roe v. Wade | May 2022

Today’s news is a significant blow to women's and girls’ rights, and to all people with ovaries.

Roe v. Wade is one of the only pieces of legislation in the country that protects a person with a uterus’ right to make decisions about their pregnancy. Overturning this law criminalizes abortion and pregnancy outcomes, further criminalizing women, girls, nonbinary folx, trans men, and intersex people for making the right choice for themselves about their own bodies. Although the leak is not a final decision on Roe vs. Wade, it demonstrates the Supreme Court’s comfort with overturning such a basic right with little concern for its impact. This news is absolutely terrifying for anyone with a uterus and people who care about people with uteruses across this country.

There are no words that can describe the anger, sadness, and fear that this news ignites.

How can anyone with a uterus feel safe in a country that does not see our bodies as our own? How can the Supreme Court claim that all people are treated as equals in this country when they want to police women’s, gender nonbinary, and trans people’s bodies and their choices?At Alliance for Girls (AFG), we believe that safe abortion is a human right and a person’s right to choose what they want to do with their body is theirs and no one else's. As we and our 180 member organizations work to protect and expand the rights of girls and gender-expansive youth, we are deeply aware of how today’s news threatens these populations and the thousands of women, girls, and every other human with a uterus who are doing this work.As we process this news, let’s make space for reflection on how reproductive rights are not only a gender equity conversation but a racial equity conversation, a public health conversation, a public safety conversation, an economic justice conversation, an education access conversation, and a human rights conversation. We may not all be focused on the same topics, but we are all impacted by this.

Simultaneously, we must lift up the voices of the people who are at the frontlines fighting day and night for our rights to our own bodies.

If you are unsure how best to support, donate to one or more sexual and reproductive health and reproductive justice groups and organizations:

• Planned Parenthood Mar Monte - Currently serving over 220,000 adults and children each year throughout mid-California and Northern Nevada, Planned Parenthood Mar Monte invests deeply in communities by providing healthcare and education, and by expanding rights and access for all. Donate to PPMM.
• California Black Women’s Health Project - The only statewide, nonprofit organization that is solely committed to improving the health of California’s 1.2 Black women and girls through advocacy, education, outreach and policy. Donate to California Black Women’s Health Project.
• California Coalition for Reproductive Freedom (CCRF) - A coalition of over 40 organizations working to promote sexual and reproductive health, rights and justice. Donate to CCRF.
• California Latinas for Reproductive Justice (CLRJ) - A statewide organization committed to honoring the experiences of Latinas to uphold their dignity, bodies, sexuality, and families. Donate to CLRJ.
• Keep our Clinics - Protects access to abortion care. Donate to Keep Our Clinics.
• Los Angeles Coalition for Reproductive Justice (LACRJ) - A coalition of more than 20 social justice and health organizations to enhance reproductive health, rights, and justice in Los Angeles. Donate to LACRJ.
• The Center for Reproductive Rights - A global human rights organization of lawyers and advocates who ensure reproductive rights are protected in law as a fundamental human right for the dignity, equality, health, and wellbeing of every person. Donate to the Center for Reproductive Rights.
• National Network of Abortion Funds - Distributes money so that people can access safe abortions without shame or stigma. Donate to National Network of Abortion Funds.
• Sister Song Women of Color reproductive justice collective - A Southern-based national membership organization building an effective network of individuals and organizations to improve institutional policies and systems that impact the reproductive lives of marginalized communities. Donate to Sister Song.
• NARAL Pro-choice America - With 2.5 million members across every state and congressional district in the country, NARAL Pro-choice America is working hard to protect and advance reproductive freedom in each state. Donate to NARAL Pro-Choice America.
• SPARK: Reproductive Justice NOW - A political home for Black women and young people, centering Black queer women, trans folx, and folx living outside the gender binary to build resources and shift narratives about our communities in Georgia and across the US South and build a future where marginalized people have the autonomy to make decisions about their lives, bodies, sexuality, and reproduction free from fear, stigma, and shame. Donate to SPARK.
• Access Reproductive Justice - Removed barriers to sexual and reproductive health care and builds the power of Californians to demand health, justice, and dignity. Donate to Access Reproductive Justice.

Please also share resources about reproductive health rights, reproductive justice, Roe v. Wade, how to discuss sexual health and reproductive rights and abortion with girls and gender-expansive youth, and anything else that you think would be helpful to the AFG network and beyond.Today is hard, and although it is a blow to our reproductive freedom, we are here together to hold space, to reflect, to spread awareness, and to strategize.In solidarity,Alliance for Girls