A Statement from A is For Re: Dobbs Decision
Today the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and Casey, and revoked our federally protected right to safe, legal abortion. People who can become pregnant no longer have autonomy over their own bodies, healthcare, or futures. This decision was not rooted in science or religion, but rather in an intention to control and criminalize our bodies.
One in four people who are able to become pregnant need abortion care. Today’s SCOTUS decision does not, cannot, and will not change that simple fact. We’ve always known the protections that Roe offered were the bare minimum. Since Roe was decided in 1973, it has been increasingly under attack, its protections steadily eroded, and 2021 was the worst year on record for abortion rights in the United States in the last 50 years. Today’s decision ensures an immediate abortion ban in 13 states, with 13 more likely to follow. That’s over half the country.
When A is For was founded in 2012, this day seemed unthinkable, and yet also inevitable. Ten years ago, Sandra Fluke, a young law student, dared to testify in support of contraception coverage from her university health insurance. She was publicly labeled a slut and repeatedly lambasted by the conservative right. Simply wanting access to reproductive healthcare became tantamount to being branded with a scarlet A. So in response — as a fuck you — the founders of A is For made hundreds of scarlet A’s and passed them out. We reappropriated what was intended to be a symbol of shame, and used it instead to declare proudly what our A is For: access, autonomy, abortion...
At this moment, A is For Action.
Since our founding, A is For has built a beautiful and powerful community of artists and supporters. We create stigma-busting art and raise money for abortion access. In defiance and with newfound clarity of purpose, we will continue that work.
We will donate to abortion funds, practical support organizations, and independent abortion providers.
We will educate others about self-managed abortion.
We will teach our children about abortion.
We will march, call our senators, and vote.
We will tell our own stories without shame or hesitation, and we will use the word abortion.
We will create and amplify art to debunk myths and call out misinformation.
We will have difficult conversations and work to change hearts and minds.
And we will continue to have abortions.
We will never stop working to eradicate the white supremacist patriarchy that has brought us here. We will be the only arbiters of our own bodies, families, and futures.