We Are In A Pivotal Moment…

We are facing a pivotal moment in the fight for a multi-racial, feminist democracy. By riding the rising tide of backlash against our communities’ successful organizing and political powerbuilding, totalitarianism and facism are sharpening the attacks against bodily autonomy. As the largest funder of the Reproductive Justice Movement, we have our grantees’ backs as they mobilize at the state level to fight back against anti-abortion and anti-trans legislation, as well as protect state-level access to abortion and gender-affirming health care.

Today, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments about whether abortion bans before viability are unconstitutional [live stream]. Through the Dobson v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization hearing, the state of Mississippi has asked the Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade. If Roe is struck down, trigger laws would automatically make abortion illegal in 11 states. Access to abortion would depend heavily on location and resources — even more so than it does now.

Those most impacted if Roe v. Wade is overturned are people of color in the South and Midwest, specifically Black, Indigenous, Asian American, Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander, and Latinx folks who use the lifesaving and gender-affirming reproductive and trans health services at abortion clinics. This is why abortion access is essential. And if Roe is overturned, it will be devastating for LGBTQ communities by further disenfranchising us and policing our bodies. The right to privacy, the essence of Roe, supports the right to gender-affirming medical care, the right to use the bathroom that coincides with one’s identity, and most of the hard-won LGBTQ gains of the last 50 years.

We all know the need for abortion care does not end simply because the law does. In the fight for abortion access, we need bold voices to carry forward bold actions around abortion access and reproductive justice. As the largest funder of the Reproductive Justice Movement, Groundswell can attest to the fact that our grantees are expanding abortion funding to meet the moment. Yet there is much more happening on the ground.

• Long time Catalyst Fund & Birth Justice Fund grantee partners The Afiya Center, West Fund, Mama Sana Vibrant Woman, National Latina Institute for Reproductive Justice, and URGE are on the ground in Texas using this moment to mobilize impacted communities by continuing to door knock and educate voters even in an “off” season, calling out abortion bans as a method to preserve the white majority, ensuring Black birthing people can access abortion and full spectrum doula care regardless of whether they need to leave their state, paying for abortions and abortion related travel, and providing culturally specific perinatal support at no cost.
• The National Network of Abortion Funds is calling for deep investment in abortion funds. They are focusing on launching Operation Scale Up, their plan to give abortion funds the resources they need to fund every caller request, nationwide. When confronted with challenges like Dobbs, the National Network of Abortion Funds makes it clear that “we must meet the current moment while staying focused on building the future we want to see.”
• All* Above All contributed to a historic moment for an end to abortion coverage bans when, earlier this year, President Biden’s budget did not include the Hyde Amendment. Through their Abortion Justice Roadmap, All* Above All campaigned for a federal budget without abortion coverage bans. This was the first Presidential budget without Hyde in decades. All* Above All is now working with national and state partners to challenge the Supreme Court decision that allowed Texas’ six week abortion ban to stand, and to win passage of the EACH Act to protect the right to abortion for all people.
• SB8 Abortion Ban in Texas has pushed even more people to seek abortion care in New Mexico. Earlier this year Bold Futures’ and Strong Families New Mexico helped to overturn a 1969 statute that criminalized abortion helping to strengthening abortion access in New Mexico should Roe v. Wade be overturned. In light of SB8, organizations like Bold Future are demanding that philanthropy recognize that the ability to access abortion in New Mexico was fought and won by the visionary strategy and organizing of women of color. The influx by philanthropic resources in the wake of the crisis should be directed to existing long term infrastructure already there instead of funding new initiatives.

Our grantees and peers know that this is about so much more than abortion. This is about our lives, our liberation, and our freedom. The critical work abortion funders and providers do everyday is imperative to our collective, liberated future.

Through all of our funds we are committed to funding reproductive justice work as we sharpen our approach centering organizations led by people of color. Currently, our Catalyst Fund which is our largest, resources the nation’s strongest reproductive justice organizing led by women of color, low-income women, and transgender people. This intersectionality approach we seek with all of our funds is critical to systems change and a pathway to liberation.

We won’t be free until everyone can make their own decisions about their bodies, lives, and futures. Anti-abortion laws deny people the freedom to make their own decisions. We must ensure we all have the freedom to control our own bodies and safely care for our families so our communities thrive.

To learn more about our plan to move $100 million to the grassroots, please visit seeusliftusfundus.org.