This Jan. 22, we should be celebrating the 50th anniversary of Roe v. Wade. Instead, our country is confronting a stark reality in which younger generations have fewer rights than the last and one in three Americans no longer have the right to safe, legal abortion in their home state. 

Anti-abortion forces want us to succumb to despair and darkness. But our hope, grit, and unwavering faith that the long arc of reproductive rights will again bend toward justice burns brighter than ever.

I’m the quintessential example of the abortion rights advocate who has doubled down in this moment. I’m 45 and have never known what it’s like to live without the protections of Roe. I grew up with a mother and grandmother demonstrating in their daily actions what it means to be a fierce advocate for justice, equity and bodily autonomy. There’s no chance I’m going to succumb to the overturning of Roe and just sit down. Instead, the fire in me burns brighter.

As the new CEO of Planned Parenthood of Northern New England (PPNNE), I am channeling my grief and outrage into efforts to rebuild a system of care that truly ensures every person has access to safe, legal abortion, no matter what.

And I’m not alone. A majority of Americans want abortion to be safe and legal. Indeed, it was the hard work of this majority who came together five decades ago, in dark times, to shine a light on systemic injustices that ultimately won the right to abortion – and we can do it again.

Here in northern New England, abortion remains safe and legal, in most cases. Since Roe was overturned, PPNNE has continued to provide the full range of sexual and reproductive health care to everyone who needs it, regardless of zip code or ability to pay, including to patients from our region as well as many other states including South Dakota, Texas, and South Carolina.

We’ve heard from countless patients since Roe was overturned about the impact this decision is having on their lives. One story that stays with me is that of a mom in her forties from the Midwest who needed an abortion. While she drove through many states where abortion remains legal, she told us that she chose to access care in northern New England because it felt the safest.

Planned Parenthood remains committed to being that light in the darkness for our patients and communities.

Mainers, Granite Staters and Vermonters took action last year to protect reproductive rights and freedoms at the state level. We defeated attempts to restrict access to abortion in northern New England and elected and re-elected reproductive rights champions in our states. In Vermont, voters made history by passing the Reproductive Liberty Amendment, which enshrined protections for reproductive rights in the state constitution.

This is just the beginning.

The overturning of Roe has rekindled fires within us and sparked the next generation of reproductive rights advocates. Efforts are underway at State Houses across our region to pass legislation that will protect abortion rights and ensure patients who live here, and travel here, can get the vital sexual and reproductive health care they need, when they need it, without fear of legal repercussions.

Our goals for this year and for this movement are ambitious. But without Roe, it is our responsibility to design the most equitable future we can imagine.

I’ve spoken with friends, family, colleagues, and community members who are grappling with feelings of fear and helplessness. Unlike Sisyphus, who carried the boulder on his own shoulders, we are not alone in the fight for reproductive rights.

Time and again throughout history, people who previously believed they were powerless came together to resist and persist and change the world around them. We may come from different backgrounds and live in different communities, but our common values unite us.

Let’s show the brightness of our solidarity and light the path forward. Join me and others and put a candle in your window on Sunday, Jan. 22 to mark what would have been the 50th anniversary of Roe and remind the world that the fight for reproductive freedom and bodily autonomy burns bright.

​Judith Selzer is the CEO of Planned Parenthood of Northern New England, which serves Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont. She lives in Concord, New Hampshire.

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