Join Left Voice in the Socialist Feminist contingent at the national day of action in New York City on May 14 at Cadman Plaza at 11:30pm EST. Sign up to attend!
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With the Supreme Court set to release a decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, we must go all out to defend our right to abortion and reproductive healthcare.
The Right has been preparing for this moment for decades. But it has been galvanized in recent years in a context of increasing political, economic, and social crisis – in 2022 alone, Republicans have advanced over 500 pieces of legislation restricting abortion services. With each passing day, Republican lawmakers signal their intentions to impose strict penalties on those who seek abortions and to outlaw other types of reproductive healthcare from condoms to the morning after pill. From Justice Alito to Congress to the states, the Republican Party is trying to go back to the age of clandestine abortions and forced pregnancies. Just this week, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell floated the idea of codifying Roe’s overturn into law, essentially instituting a nationwide abortion ban. And the Right is threatening to advance their attacks on trans rights, voting rights, and more.
The Right is seizing upon this moment. It’s time we do the same.
That is why all unions, activists, community organizations, and schools must join and mobilize for the national day of action planned for May 14 in cities across the country. Let’s show Alito and the Right exactly who they’re up against. We must take the streets to defend against the rollback of abortion protections and demand that the right to free, safe, legal abortion on demand be codified into law.
Waiting for the midterms isn’t an option. In just a month the Supreme Court will release its decision and abortion will become automatically illegal in at least 13 states. Voting in more Democrats is a dead end. Though they’ve had every opportunity to defend abortion rights, the Democrats have shown time and time again that they will not do what it takes to pass abortion legislation; their loyalty is to capitalist interests and ensuring they stay in power to protect them.
That is why, though we march alongside all those who defend the right to an abortion, Left Voice will take part in an independent socialist feminist contingent in New York City alongside other left organizations as part of the national day of action called by reproductive rights organizations. We fight so that abortion is made legal, safe, and free for all people. We have no faith in any capitalist party to give us that right or any right.
It will take a mass movement of millions of people to make sure that everyone who needs an abortion can get one and to organize ourselves to defend against all the attacks the Right aims at the rights of millions of working class and poor people – particularly LGBTQ+ people and trans youth – across the country. And it is in that independence that we find our strength, the power we hold as teachers, as delivery workers, as healthcare workers and caregivers, as logistics workers – as the people who make everything in society run.
Such a movement will be built in our workplaces, schools, and community organizations, where we can decide next steps democratically and intervene with the power we have to shut down the everyday functioning of society – without being beholden to any capitalist politician, boss, or bureaucrat.
We know our strength lies in the organization of the workers, students, and young people who have already come out into the streets in defense of abortion rights, and who must bring their coworkers, classmates, and comrades into the fight as well. Some unions, schools, and workers organizations have put forward statements in defense of abortion rights. But it is up to rank-and-file workers and students to push further and put these words into action – organizing concrete steps to fight together.
In this spirit, we urge all those ready to fight for the right to an abortion to organize committees in their schools, workplaces, and unions to discuss and make plans to mobilize for the national day of action to show their collective strength. In New York, students, faculty, and staff at CUNY are coming together to discuss how to intervene in this moment, organizing a walkout for May 13 and to march together on May 14. Get involved with CUNY for Abortion Rights! Sign up for more information.
But the fight to defend abortion rights goes beyond one march. Such committees could serve to take the fight much further than May 14, until the right to an abortion is made the law of the land. Abortion access is a workplace issue. It is imperative that the labor movement take up this fight and go all out for the national day of action. Talk to your coworkers, classmates, and community members. Bring them with you on Saturday – and if you want help organizing those discussions or finding others to organize with, contact us.
Join Left Voice in the Socialist Feminist contingent at the national day of action in New York City on May 14 at Cadman Plaza at 11:30pm EST. Sign up to attend!
