This morning, our country woke up to news that Donald Trump has been elected President of the United States. While we cannot depend on electoral politics alone to bring justice to our communities, Trump’s victory speaks volumes to the systematic racism, bigotry, xenophobia, sexism, and violence that is accepted among [overwhelmingly white] voters in our country.
Our hearts break for communities of color, LGBTQ people, undocumented families, immigrants, people with disabilities, low-income people, survivors of sexual assault, people who are seeking or who have had abortions, and anyone else whose very existence and wellbeing now feels threatened by a Trump/Pence Administration.
This election, from the start, has sent dangerous messages to and about these communities. Messages of hate, bigotry, divisiveness, misogyny, and white supremacy have created the very culture that has allowed Trump to win this election. We vehemently demean the institutions and systematic oppression that normalizes these messages.
Overnight, we are left with an anti-choice Congress, an anti-choice president-elect, an anti-choice majority in the Texas state legislature and an anti-choice governor as well as lieutenant governor. Indeed, things ahead seem very bleak for those of us in the reproductive justice community in our state and beyond.
We want to make space for healing. It is through healing that we can truly strengthen our community and movement towards reproductive justice. Healing is not only necessary for our own humanity, it is necessary for our collective resistance. This is why we lean on each other. This is why we mourn together and give space for grief, pain, loss, and fears. These feelings are valid and we want to affirm the struggles of people who are most impacted by power structures that were never built for them.
At Lilith Fund, we envision a world where all people have the rights, power, and access to the resources they need, including safe abortion care. While we call for healing, we had over 50 calls on our hotline today. We will continue our work. We won’t stop fighting until we’ve created that world, and the results of any election won’t change our commitment to that. If you are hurting right now, please know that we see you and we are with you. We all deserve better than this. Let’s hold each other close.
In Solidarity,
Lilith Fund Board & Staff
