The antidote for mourning is to fight back

Feeling miserable because of the recent US Supreme Court massacre of our personal choices? Skeptical that a log-jammed Congress will come to the rescue for those people who need/want an abortion?

You should know that activists are DOING something in a couple of dicey states.

In Michigan: State Rep. MalloryMcMorrow (@Mallory McMorrow) shouts on Twitter ...

You are NOT powerless. A ballot initiative to get an amendment to the state Constitution on the Nov ballot which would enshrine abortion access and reproductive rights in Michigan has collected the most signatures of any ballot effort IN STATE HISTORY. Volunteers are STILL GOING.

Activists explain that they must submit 429,000 signatures to qualify. So far, they have 800,000 signers and still going.

“We are past the threshold, and we are very confident that we are going to have a large cushion,” [Merissa] Kovach [policy strategist with American Civil Liberties Union] said Tuesday. 

... More than 10,000 donors from across the country have given more than $100,000 to the campaign since Friday, Kovach said Tuesday.  

The campaign told reporters Friday it had attracted a total 30,000 volunteers to circulate the petition and collect signatures. 

“Our volunteers have exploded,” Kovach said.

Winning in November will be a fight -- in Michigan it always is for progressives. But this popular outpouring bodes well.

In Kansas: On August 2, voters will have a chance to vote their desire for legal abortions even sooner. The state constitution currently protects a right to abortion. The forced pregnancy forces thought to overturn this rule in a very low-turnout summer primary election. The Supremes have unleashed outrage that may spoil their plan.

According to TPM:

In 2019, the Kansas Supreme Court found that the state constitution protects the right to an abortion. Anti-abortion groups wasted little time in strategizing how to nullify that decision. 

They settled on a ballot vote to amend the constitution with language making it clear that the constitution protects no such right, and asserting that the state does not require government funding of abortion services. It guarantees the very conservative legislature’s right to pass abortion laws “including, but not limited to, laws that account for circumstances of pregnancy resulting from rape or incest, or circumstances of necessity to save the life of the mother.” 

... The sleepy primary is suddenly being held in a time where abortion is headlining the national conversation. The fresh wave of attention has given opponents of the amendment, many of whom admitted to TPM that they were very worried about the vote before the leak and final decision came out, a dose of renewed hope.

When they knock you down, girls get up and fight some more.