Millions of people woke up on Wednesday in a country they didn’t recognize or understand.
Even though we are constantly reminded of how America feels about women—whether it be the 2016 election or the Dobbs decision—so many of us are reeling from yet another confirmation.
Through all the questions I have, all the anguish and confusion I’ve felt myself and heard from the people around me, there are a few truths I am holding onto firmly:
The personal is still political.
Everywhere I’ve been, I’ve heard how the fight for reproductive rights has given voice to women who were once silenced by abortion stigma and are now outspoken about their experiences. How our country thinks about abortion has shifted in the last few years, thanks in large part to people who have come forward and told their own personal stories. Poll after poll has shown us that support for abortion has only grown, especially in the post-Dobbs era.
These people have shattered the silence and shame around abortion and other reproductive health care—from Texas patients filing lawsuits, to the parents and families of women who have died because of abortion bans, to Abortion in America, a project by my predecessor, Cecile Richards, to bring abortion stories to a wider audience.
One in five women knows someone who has had trouble accessing abortions in a state with an abortion ban in the post-Dobbs era. I traveled the country over the last few months, and I heard from so many people telling their abortion stories, many for the first time. When I was in Phoenix, an older woman approached me after an event, and she asked me a question I think many may be asking themselves today: “Is it too late to share my story?”
Absolutely not. Keep sharing. Keep affirming your own humanity, your own freedom. It is much harder to take away a right when our claim is so firmly staked.
Splitting tickets is splitting freedom.
In seven of the 10 states where abortion was on the ballot, freedom won. Arizona, Colorado, Maryland, Missouri, Montana, New York, and Nevada all voted to protect or expand abortion rights in their states and rejected laws that put women’s lives at risk.
In Missouri, voters rejected a total abortion ban, which will restore access to abortion care in the center of the country, where it is desperately needed. In Florida, a strong majority voted to get rid of the state’s abortion ban, falling just short of the 60 percent threshold they needed to overturn the state’s six-week ban. But these are also two states that went for Trump. While a majority of voters might have favored reproductive rights, there was a glaring gap between people supporting policies and supporting the politicians who believe in those policies.
There is so much a Trump administration can do to take away access to reproductive health: rolling back the Affordable Care Act mandate to cover birth control, misinterpreting and enforcing the 1873 Comstock Act to restrict abortion, or, with the support of Congress, banning abortion altogether. People voted to restore access where they live, but a Trump administration could override that very access. People voted for themselves, but they did not vote for the rights of their sisters and siblings across the country. We are no less vulnerable.
Everywhere I go, I have a different set of rights. Freedom should not depend on what dirt you’re standing on. We are either free in our own country to make decisions about our own bodies, or we are not. We must look out for each other by electing leaders at every level who will protect our rights.
Even the most recent history can be erased by misinformation.
Today, 28 million women of reproductive age, plus trans and non-binary people, are living in the 21 states where abortion is banned in some or all cases. These abortion bans are in place because of Donald Trump. He appointed justices to the Supreme Court for the express purpose of overturning Roe v. Wade and taking away the constitutional right to abortion. He called statewide bans “a beautiful thing to watch.” His allies wrote Project 2025, a blueprint for taking away our rights—including access to medication abortion—with or without Congress.
But during this campaign he also said, multiple times, that he would not put in place a nationwide abortion ban, and it seems some people believed him. Trust me when I say that Planned Parenthood Action Fund will hold him to that, every single day for the next four years.
Democracy needs you all the time, not just every four years.
Government is in our lives, whether we want it to be or not. So many people got fired up to fight for their rights when Vice President Kamala Harris became the nominee—the energy was an incredible thing to witness on the ground across the country. We need that same energy all the time, not just when we have a leader we vibe with.
Every year, we pay taxes. With those taxes, Congress builds a budget and decides what to pay for, and who gets what. Will those who use public health insurance have their birth control covered? Will people have access to Head Start for their children? Or their student loans forgiven? Social Security and Medicare for their later years? These are things that might not feel immediate to you but are important to sustain our communities. Lawmakers don’t just decide what rights you have, but if and how you can access them.
These are decisions being made on your behalf not just for today, but for years to come. Never cede your power or let them make those decisions without your voice. Vote in every election, know who represents you, and call them about the things that matter to you. Join organizations at the community or national level that organize for change.
Planned Parenthood’s doors are open.
Across the country, providers and staff at Planned Parenthood health centers are answering questions from confused and scared patients about whether they can still get care. They’re providing birth control—still covered without copay thanks to the Affordable Care Act—STI testing and treatment, cancer screenings, and, where legal, abortion care. They are providing to communities that historically have lived on the margins—communities of color, low income communities, those without documentation. They are wondering whether they can still get gender-affirming care and whether they need to get an IUD now.
This is not a time for hot takes. This is a time to reflect and ask some fundamental questions: What do we really believe is the promise of America? Are we willing to fight for our rights—for all of us? Do we see each other’s humanity? Because you don’t take away rights from people you see as equal.
For the vast majority of our history, the vast majority of Americans could not participate in democracy. Every single gain for women over the last century has been won by broad coalitions that include women of color. Our rights—civil rights, LGBTQ+ rights, women’s rights—will be won only by seeing and fighting for each other’s humanity. The project for a multiracial, feminist democracy is still my hope.
The Planned Parenthood mission is to care, no matter what. When we say it, we mean it. We will never stop fighting for the right of every person to control their own bodies and lives.
I hope, after you take time to grieve what we lost on November 5, that you will join us. We need you—now more than ever.
Alexis McGill Johnson is the President of Planned Parenthood Action Fund. She is also the President and CEO of Planned Parenthood Federation of America. She served as acting president and CEO for a year, and has been in both organizations’ leadership for more than a decade: as a former PPFA board chair, former Planned Parenthood Action Fund board member, and former Planned Parenthood Federal PAC chair.