Dear Neighbors,

I hear your fury, I see your fear, and I feel it too. We may have expected this day, but it does not lessen the blow.

I am terrified of what this Supreme Court decision means for the lives of our daughters, granddaughters, and loved ones. For the lives of everyone who will be left without options as a result of this regressive decision. With this ruling, the Supreme Court has turned its back on reason and equality and safety. But in California, those values remain firmly rooted. Here, women and pregnant individuals will always be entitled to dignity, understanding, and reproductive choice.

During my time running clinic services at Womancare Health Center in San Diego, I saw firsthand what lack of access means. I listened to and learned from a distraught mother whose daughter died after an illegal abortion in Indiana. I held the hand of a woman in the Navy who had been incorrectly led to believe she could not safely deliver her baby, because she had a sexually transmitted disease. She came to us because she could not get an abortion in the Naval hospital. She was scared, confused, alone, and misinformed. We helped her understand all of her options, including the option to safely deliver her baby. When she chose to do just that, the doctor from our clinic was by her side in the delivery room.

This decision is everything we feared it would be. But, hear me when I say this: We will not be shoved back into the dark days of desperate decisions. Abortion is health care, plain and simple, and the decision to have one lies solely with the patient. California will not leave people vulnerable to the tyranny of a loud minority.

Sincerely in solidarity,

Toni Atkins Senator, 39th District