A punch in the gut. Not the kind where a toddler is playing with you and hits you a little too hard in the stomach— it’s the kind of punch that came from a Politico story that leaked a drafted decision from SCOTUS. The draft on Roe v. Wade, which protects the right to abortion on a federal level, confirmed what we’ve known for months, the Supreme Court is set to overturn Roe v. Wade.
Honestly, we’ve known this has been coming for a while, and YET, it still stings and we will continue to feel the bruising pain from that punch.
Two years ago in New Mexico, people of color, activists and legislators came together to repeal an antiquated abortion ban that would have gone into effect when and if Roe were overturned, and we made abortion legal in New Mexico in 2021. We’ve shown what it means to respect our deeply personal decisions when it comes to our healthcare. It’s that hard work that resulted in NM being one of the few states that has activley kept abortion safe and legal.
So we’re safe here right? For now we are. We still have access to abortion in NM but what does setting this precedent open the door for? If Roe falls natioanlly and we see even more people coming to NM for abortion care, how do providers keep up with that demand?
In this time when one of the “greatest countries in the world” can achieve so much progress, how is it that we’re stuck in 1973?
Um, It’s Been Happening—
Even before the slew of abortion bans in this past year, GOP-ers have been hard at work installing trigger bans, and dangerous abortion bans like Texas’ SB 8, Oklahoma’s 6 week ban, and the many others that have followed suit in the last few months.
And the conservative-leaning Justices sitting on the U.S. Supreme Court are to blame too as they have done nothing to stop dangerous abortion bans that would save millions of Black, Brown and Indigenous people of color, people who struggle financially, LGBTQ+ people and so many others from being forced into a decision.
You May Be Next
Beyond Roe, so many rights upheld by SCOTUS decisions hinge on the constitutional interpretation of nine people who sit on the highest court for life. If they’re coming for our bodily autonomy, they can come for interracial marriages, roll back same-sex marriage, and more.
If you think it doesn’t affect you, it does.
What happens if our electoral makeup changes on a state level and NM tries to adopt Texas-like abortion bans that reward vigilante snitches? What happens to our NM families, friends, and neighbors? For now, we still have access to abortion in NM, but setting this precedent opens the door for other critical protections being rolled back. If the government can regulate birthing bodies, what’s next?
It’s easy to mistake the reversal of Roe as a benign and non-violent act because it’s framed around the theater of the Supreme Court and their staunch robes. But women died needlessly for years, and maternal mortality rates are still the highest among any modern country because of the fundamental failure to support reproductive justice, and the 50 year failure of Congress to codify abortion as healthcare.
What Do We Do?
New Mexicans know that the right to our own bodily autonomy is sacred and should be respected. We knew that when we repealed the antiquated abortion ban from the 1960s and we still uphold that same value across our state. We’ve fought tooth and nail and we won’t stop fighting; but right now, at this moment, we’re mad and scared as hell. If you are too, here are some ways you can get involved.
Tell your story. We are not alone in our experiences with abortion. Our people have been telling stories for generations. Our stories have kept us together as a community and have made us stronger. We won’t be silenced. Be part of our community and share your story with us today. bit.ly/3s8Hn0L
Show your support out loud and Buy a “Don’t Snitch On My Snatch” shirt where a percentage of the proceeds will go to New Mexico abortion funds.
Keep funding and supporting abortion funds, clinics and the people who work in them who keep making abortion access possible.
⭐ Indigenous Women Rising
⭐ Mariposa Fund
⭐ NM Religious Coalition for Choice
We need to stand strong in our support for abortion and stand by each other. If you’re not ready to put your body on the line for anyone with a uterus, without any interference, to make their own decisions about THEIR bodies, we simply have nothing left to talk to you about in the spirit of civil discourse.