Four Years After Roe v. Wade’s fall, RFC Co-Chairs, Members Amplify the Reproductive Freedom Fight Across the Country
WASHINGTON, D.C. – This week, the Congressional Reproductive Freedom Caucus (RFC) recognized the fourth anniversary of Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. Together with House Democratic Leadership, the Democratic Women’s Caucus, and our coalition partners, RFC marked this milestone with impactful events, digital mobilization, and a redoubling of our fight with—and for—the people.
Reproductive Freedom Caucus Co-Chairs Diana DeGette (CO-01) and Ayanna Pressley (MA-07) and Vice Chair Lizzie Fletcher (TX-07) came together with House Democratic leadership, the Democratic Women’s Caucus, coalition partners from Planned Parenthood Federation of America and Reproductive Freedom for All, and storyteller Shanette Williams—the mother of Amber Nicole Thurman—for a press conference on the four-year anniversary of the Supreme Court’s Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health decision. This was not only a moment of reflection, but a call to action.
“As we move towards our 250th anniversary, our goal should be restoring rights and not taking them away,” said RFC Co-Chair Diana DeGette. “It is the sole mission of the Reproductive Freedom Caucus to ensure that every American has the health care they need, including abortion access, and we are—and will—fight tirelessly to make sure that this happens.”
“This is a somber moment. Today, I come before you with a heavy heart because I fear that America has normalized women bleeding out in parking lots, denied basic health care,” said RFC Co-Chair Ayanna Pressley. “I fear that in America, the suffering of women has become background noise. Tell me how this is possible when the preventable death of a loved one is a kind of heartbreak that defies words—a permanent heartbreak that crushes dreams and is felt across generations…Let me be clear: abortion care is essential health care. I come before you today to offer a stark and damning picture not to dissuade us from the work ahead, but to call us to action.”
“My fellow Texans are suffering today, as are women across this country, from the cruelty and the chaos that the United States Supreme Court unleashed four years ago today when it overturned the case of Roe v. Wade,” said RFC Vice Chair Lizzie Fletcher. “Women in Texas are dying because people in our legislature passed laws that said that they are not equal citizens and they are not deserving of equal care…this is exactly where we were more than fifty years ago when a small group of young women in Texas challenged the laws that were on the books in Texas then. They fought those laws, and they took that case all the way to the Supreme Court. And they won. And that was the case of Roe v. Wade. That was the case that established that Americans have the right to make their own decisions about their own bodies, their own families, and their own futures…We will not stop. We are here to fight. And we will win.”
“Not only do I represent my daughter, but so many other women,” said Shanette Williams. “Absolutely nothing prepares you for losing someone you love so deeply…She was the light of my life. She challenged me, and she encouraged me. She pushed me to go beyond the limits…I think about her every single day. My daughter lost her life in 2022, shortly after the Dobbs ruling…My daughter deserved to live a long and happy life. However, that opportunity was taken away from her. Doctors did not give me the opportunity to make a decision about my daughter’s life, and treated her as if she was a statistic. It was later that my family and I would find out Georgia’s abortion ban prevented doctors from providing the care that Amber needed to survive. I wholeheartedly repeat: the doctors and the state of Georgia failed my baby. And they failed so many others and are failing so many others.”
Dozens of House Democrats joined the Reproductive Freedom Caucus for a digital amplification of the Dobbs anniversary, collaborating with content creators and storytellers, and storming social media with graphics, videos, and statements highlighting House Democrats’ nonstop fight for reproductive rights and freedom.
See the full Dobbs press conference here. See and share RFC’s Dobbs anniversary post on X here and Bluesky here.
RFC Abortion Rights and Access Task Force Chair Jennifer McClellan (VA-04) joined Free & Just to give a warm send-off to dozens of abortion storytellers ahead of a packed day of advocacy with their Congressional representatives. Throughout the day, 150+ providers, patients, and advocates from across the country took to the Hill to share their personal stories with RFC Members and with their elected officials, Democrat and Republican alike, about why legislation is needed to restore the right to abortion and protect access to reproductive health care.
RFC Members representing communities from Atlanta to Houston, Newark to Raleigh, Chicago to Santa Barbara sat down with constituent storytellers, reproductive freedom advocates, and national movement leaders to uplift their voices and recommit to fighting alongside them.
And as this time of remembrance and solidarity continued, our Members, including RFC Restriction Impacts Task Force Chair Suzan DelBene (WA-01), Freshman Representative Kelly Morrison (MN-03), and Reproductive Justice Task Force Chair Emilia Sykes (OH-13), held briefings, sent letters, introduced legislation, and reminded the nation that our agenda is the people’s agenda.
As we move into July, our fight continues. RFC Members continue to push back against the GOP attacks on reproductive health care. We continue to fight for a reproductive freedom future that safeguards the right to abortion, ends the anti-abortion weaponization of our federal budget, and expands access to all reproductive health care. We stand unapologetically with Planned Parenthood one year after Congressional Republicans and Donald Trump colluded to “defund” its health centers and strip scores of Americans of essential health care access. We stand together stronger and louder than ever for the people and for reproductive freedom.
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