Ms. Editors' Letter: Feminists Have Long Fought for Abortion Access--and We're Not Stopping Now

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Ms. Editors’ Letter: Feminists Have Long Fought for Abortion Access—and We’re Not Stopping Now
7/20/2022 by Ms. Editors
The struggles, setbacks and gains of the past 49 years have only strengthened and better positioned the feminist movement to take on this fight.



The unthinkable has happened: The U.S. Supreme Court has struck down Roe v. Wade, taking away a fundamental constitutional right from women and sending shock waves across the country and the world. Let’s be clear: The Court and the Republican legislators and governors enacting bans and severe restrictions on abortion have no public mandate. Across the country, at rallies and demonstrations in Washington, D.C., and in every state, red or blue, the Court’s decision was met with outrage and with a deep determination to fight back. Women are not going back. Millions of women—some one in four of all U.S. women—have had abortions and know how important having access to safe abortion has been for their lives. The fight for abortion is a fight for self-determination, dignity and autonomy. And make no mistake, we will not cede this fight.

This is not the first time the feminist movement has engaged in this battle, having organized and won hard-fought changes to abortion laws in a number of states in the 1960s and early 1970s, even before the Court’s 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling. In the very first issue of Ms. in 1972, 53 well- known U.S. women signed a petition calling for the repeal of abortion laws and declaring that they had undergone abortions—despite legislation in most states rendering the procedure illegal.


The original “We Have Had Abortions” article that appeared in Ms.

The feminist movement is larger and more powerful today than it was in 1973, and the struggles, setbacks and gains of the past 49 years have only strengthened and better positioned the movement to take on this fight. And what’s more, the availability of medication abortion—abortion pills that can be delivered to your mailbox—has fundamentally changed the landscape of abortion access, even in states that have implemented bans. This latest attempt to control women’s lives and turn back the clock on women’s progress will not stand. Unlike 49 years ago, women possess tremendous political power. The gender gap—the measurable difference between women and men in public opinion polling and in voting—has grown significantly, and in this November’s midterms will likely shape the outcome of local, state and national contests, favoring candidates who sup- port women’s equality and the right to abortion.

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Ms., January/February 1992.

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As we begin this latest battle in the long struggle for full equality—and for our very democracy—we at Ms. promise to be a trusted source for accurate, timely and actionable information in print, online and through the acclaimed podcasts and programs of Ms. Studios. We will meet this historic challenge, and together we will construct a way forward.

For equality,

Katherine Spillar, Eleanor Smeal and the editors of Ms.