We've spent the last 24 hours trying to wrap our heads around the news that the Supreme Court is taking up a case that many believe will be the end of Roe v. Wade. According to both sides of the abortion divide, Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization is specifically written to challenge the idea that states are not allowed to ban abortion prior to viability -- and that the Supreme Court wouldn't be hearing it if they planned to just uphold precedent.
This is a nightmare for the South. At this point, Florida is the ONLY state between Texas and the Atlantic Ocean that doesn't have a total or near-total abortion ban that will be enforced as soon as Roe is overturned. Our state will be the only place a pregnant person can travel to in order to access a legal abortion in the Southeast, a region that includes everything south of Virginia and Illinois and East of New Mexico.
Over the last five months, we have spent over $30,000 just helping patients in Florida access abortion care, either those who live here and need financial support, or those who come here from neighboring states. But if this decision turns out the way everyone expects it to, we will be literally flooded with patients coming from hundreds of miles around, knowing that we are their only option.
It is difficult to keep up with increasing demand even without this threat from the Supreme Court. We will continue building our organization to support patient need, recruit the volunteers necessary to assist people traveling across this region, and continue to pressure our legislators to keep abortion legal and accessible in Florida, so that this one last oasis of abortion care doesn't slip away, too.
We need your support financially in order to make all of this happen, and we are asking for your help, because too many callers are already asking for ours. Without pledges of ongoing support, we can't build the network we need -- the network the entire South needs -- if we are to get ahead of the changes coming our way.
Can you donate $100, $25, even $5 to make sure we can continue to serve pregnant people in Tampa Bay? Even better, can you make this a monthly commitment, so we can remain a viable option for the growing number of callers who need us?
Thank you for helping us keep abortion accessible.
