Grandmothers & Elder Activists Will Not Be Stopped.

Strength to go on is the only sacred thing. – Mary Fell

Last night the Supreme Court denied an emergency application to halt S.B. 8, a particularly cruel six-week abortion ban in Texas. This decision effectively overturns Roe v. Wade for Texans, with devastating implications for abortion access across the country, especially in politically hostile states in the South and Midwest. S.B. 8 also encourages ordinary people to spy on one another and bring civil suits against strangers for up to $10,000. This law sets a bone-chilling precedent for vigilante surveillance.

While pregnant people of means will be able to travel for necessary care, many low-income and working-class people will be forced to continue pregnancies, self-manage abortions (which, though physically safe, comes with legal risk), or take potentially unsafe measures to end pregnancies. In a country founded on enslavement and genocide, Black, Brown, and Indigenous people are far more likely to live near or beneath the poverty line. This decision is a clear attack on movements for gender, racial and economic justice.

We are heartbroken and enraged, as we should be. Many of us are also old enough to remember times before Roe. At the same time, all of us have lived through the passage of the Hyde Amendment and hundreds of state-level restrictions. We have been abandoned by the courts, persecuted by state legislatures and anti-abortion protestors, and faced down stigma for decades.

Yet, we keep getting back up to fight. We do it for future generations and for our younger selves, all of whom deserve and deserved better. Today, we mourn. But we also continue to fight. Here are three simple actions we are asking GRR!s to take today.

Call & write your members of Congress!

• • Congress must pass the Women’s Health Protection Act & the EACH Act!
  • WHPA establishes a statutory right to abortion in federal law & makes restrictions like S.B. 8 illegal.
  • The EACH Act restores federal insurance coverage that Hyde has denied to millions for decades.
  • Thank those already publicly supporting these bills and ask them to call publicly for a vote on WHPA. Urge those who are not yet co-sponsors to be bold and sign on ASAP. Let your Representatives and Senators know that we will NOT allow abortion rights to be thrown under the bus.

Direct resources to Texas!

• • B. 8 seriously threatens clinics’ ability to remain open, especially independent clinics. You can donate here to help clinics survive this awful legislation.
  • Texas abortion funds and practical support organizations need even more resources to support travel out of state. You can help by donating here.

Reach out to the younger people in your life.

• • Show solidarity with those whose reproductive futures are threatened in this current moment by sharing your stories, offering comfort & modeling persistence.
  • If you know someone in Texas who may need to access an abortion, direct them here for accurate and up-to-date information.

In solidarity,
Julia G. Kahrl, Ph.D. (Judy)
Grandmothers for Reproductive Rights Founder