To GRRs across the country,
Fifty years ago, a vast movement of ordinary women changed the world. We marched, organized, cared for each other in secrecy, wrote letters, and showed up for our reproductive freedom. In speaking about that time, one GRR! storyteller recently said, “We wanted people to take the right to abortion for granted. That was the goal.” Because of our work and those who came after to push us forward, the majority of the United States believes abortion should be legal and accessible. We envisioned an unfathomable world. The force of our imagination opened up new possibilities of self-determination for generations of people.
The movement to win abortion rights, like all movements, has been flawed. Abortion access has never been universal, with many left out of essential healthcare. We continue to reckon with the failures, short-sightedness, and distortions of privilege that limited our vision and demands at the time. And, we made the seemingly impossible become the inevitable. In 1973, seven supreme court justices agreed that our bodies are our own, that pregnant people are full human beings and must decide our futures for ourselves. They did so because of us. We fought for our lives and dignity, and the court moved to meet our demands. The legal system has never granted justice without loud, unrelenting demands from the people.
Today’s decision cannot undo the world Roe made, cannot extinguish the flame we lit and younger people have tended for five decades since. Younger generations picked up this struggle and established abortion funds, practical support networks and culture change organizations that weave a powerful net of care for people seeking abortions and inclusive healthcare. This net will hold the next wave, while we collectively strive for full abortion liberation and bodily freedom.
Now is the time to move arm in arm, as elders, youth and everyone in between. To work intergenerationally is to recognize both the triumphs and the shortcomings of the past, to continue to learn together, and to combine our strength and care towards the future. Today we’ve heard a legal declaration that will have far reaching consequences on the lives of millions. Going forward, our anger cannot supersede community care. We cannot forget the love needed to bring about change. Our love and labors changed the world before, and now our intergenerational, intersectional love and solidarity will do it again.
We’re with you.
GRR! Board & Staff
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