Dear Neighbor,

Last week, we learned of the Supreme Court’s horrifying decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. Like so many of you, I am outraged and heartbroken by this radical regression to a darker time in history for American women.

With an unyielding opinion that Roe was wrongly decided from the beginning, six zealots on the Court have utterly discredited the third branch of government, reduced American women to second class citizens, and, I fear, unleashed forces that will fracture America.

First, let me be very clear: In Virginia, it is still your right to seek an abortion. Virginia Democrats made sure of that, and we will fight tooth and nail to guarantee it stays that way. For more information and resources on accessing reproductive care in Virginia, please click here.

But that is of no comfort for the tens of millions of women who live in states with pre-Roe abortion bans still in effect or in states that have enacted trigger laws immediately criminalizing abortion upon Roe’s reversal. For women in these states, full reproductive freedom is a thing of the past. That is shameful.

We know that abortion is vital and can often be a lifesaving procedure. We know that banning abortion does not stop abortion – it stops safe abortion. In a country with an already shocking maternal mortality rate, limiting access to reproductive care means more women will die.

There is nothing “pro-life” about that.

But the dangers of reversing Roe v. Wade extend far beyond the devastating impact on women’s health and empowerment. This decision marks the first time in constitutional history that the Supreme Court has taken away a right from the American people. That is a horrifying precedent, and one that poses a grave threat to the other fundamental freedoms recognized in previous Court rulings.

Justice Clarence Thomas made that threat explicitly clear. In his concurring opinion, Justice Thomas laid out the Court’s plans for the near future, including his wish to reconsider the landmark decisions that established marriage equality and the right to access contraception and fertility care.

So, I am doubling down on my efforts to push the Senate to codify Roe v. Wade into federal law, which the House has already voted to do, and to eliminate the filibuster if necessary to get it done. And I am eager to start the process of cementing other established rights, like marriage equality into federal law, which Speaker Pelosi has announced is already underway.

This is not a moment for timid action. The American people are demanding our tenacity in the fight to restore their basic right to bodily autonomy. We must listen.