We Are In A Pivotal Moment…

December 1st, 2021

Groundswell Fund
4 min readDec 1, 2021
National Latina Institute for Reproductive Justice

We are facing a pivotal moment in the fight for a multi-racial, feminist democracy. By riding the rising tide of backlash against our communities’ successful organizing and political powerbuilding, totalitarianism and facism are sharpening the attacks against bodily autonomy. As the largest funder of the Reproductive Justice Movement, we have our grantees’ backs as they mobilize at the state level to fight back against anti-abortion and anti-trans legislation, as well as protect state-level access to abortion and gender-affirming health care.

Today, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments about whether abortion bans before viability are unconstitutional [live stream]. Through the Dobson v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization hearing, the state of Mississippi has asked the Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade. If Roe is struck down, trigger laws would automatically make abortion illegal in 11 states. Access to abortion would depend heavily on location and resources — even more so than it does now.

Those most impacted if Roe v. Wade is overturned are people of color in the South and Midwest, specifically Black, Indigenous, Asian American, Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander, and Latinx folks who use the lifesaving and gender-affirming reproductive and trans health services at abortion clinics. This is why abortion access is essential. And if Roe is overturned, it will be devastating for LGBTQ communities by further disenfranchising us and policing our bodies. The right to privacy, the essence of Roe, supports the right to gender-affirming medical care, the right to use the bathroom that coincides with one’s identity, and most of the hard-won LGBTQ gains of the last 50 years.

We all know the need for abortion care does not end simply because the law does. In the fight for abortion access, we need bold voices to carry forward bold actions around abortion access and reproductive justice. As the largest funder of the Reproductive Justice Movement, Groundswell can attest to the fact that our grantees are expanding abortion funding to meet the moment. Yet there is much more happening on the ground.

Our grantees and peers know that this is about so much more than abortion. This is about our lives, our liberation, and our freedom. The critical work abortion funders and providers do everyday is imperative to our collective, liberated future.

Through all of our funds we are committed to funding reproductive justice work as we sharpen our approach centering organizations led by people of color. Currently, our Catalyst Fund which is our largest, resources the nation’s strongest reproductive justice organizing led by women of color, low-income women, and transgender people. This intersectionality approach we seek with all of our funds is critical to systems change and a pathway to liberation.

We won’t be free until everyone can make their own decisions about their bodies, lives, and futures. Anti-abortion laws deny people the freedom to make their own decisions. We must ensure we all have the freedom to control our own bodies and safely care for our families so our communities thrive.

To learn more about our plan to move $100 million to the grassroots, please visit seeusliftusfundus.org.

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Groundswell Fund

We support a stronger movement for reproductive and gender justice. Read more at www.groundswellfund.org