What now? How to get involved after the overturning of Roe v. Wade

With the news of Roe v. Wade overturned by the Supreme Court, Americans everywhere are feeling this loss. Though we have been anticipating this decision since the leak of the draft majority opinion and worried about what would happen if the landmark law was overturned, now that the day is here, a new form of helplessness has set in.

“The overturning of Roe v. Wade is heartbreaking. So many of us are feeling despair and devastation, but letting those feelings isolate us from our fellow community members is not the answer,” says Sarah Stewart Holland, cohost of Pantsuit Politics podcast. “Reaching out, donating, volunteering, and ultimately organizing is how we will find our footing and start moving forward.”

Even if you are not directly affected by this decision right now, you may still be wanting to take action and join the fight for reproductive rights. Whether you want to make a one-time or regular donation to an organization that helps those in need or you want to make your voice heard, there are ways to get involved. Here are a few options.

Actions to take after the Roe v. Wade decision

• Get educated. Here’s a state-by-state guide denoting abortion restrictions. Use it to look up the laws in your own state as well as other states where you may consider donating regionally, using the resources below.
• Join a protest. There will be plenty of protests taking place in the wake of the Roe decision; your best bet to finding a protest in your area is to connect on social media; Planned Parenthood also has an event finder on its website.

Where to donate

• A donation to Planned Parenthood is also a way to help on a national level, and they’re always looking for volunteers if you’d rather give time than money.
• We Testify strives to help end the stigma attached to abortion. 
• Donating to Keep Our Clinics helps keeps the doors open for independent clinics providing abortion care.
• If you want to help locally: The National Network of Abortion Funds works to remove financial and logistical barriers to abortion access, specifically aiming to center those at the intersections of racial, economic, and reproductive justice. On their website, you can choose to split your donation among 90+ individual organizations or select specific orgs.

Regionally-specific places to donate

• Yellowhammer is an abortion fund and reproductive rights organization serving the deep south.
• Access Reproductive Care-Southeast is also working in the southern states to provide assistance for people seeking abortions.
• The Lilith Fund is Texas’s oldest organization devoted to providing financial and emotional. assistance. Though they note that the Roe decision prohibits their ability to provide abortion assistance, they note that they still need help.
• SHERo Mississippi is a reproductive rights organization to support if you want to help people in Mississippi directly.

Also: take a breath. Give yourself time to grieve and process first. Then, take action.

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