
1 minute read
A message from leadership
by ppmwimpact

Laura Meyers, Ph.D. President & CEO and Dana Thomas, Board Chair

If 2020 was the most difficult and challenging year of our lives, then 2021 wasn't far behind. The year didn't start off well. On January 6th, only blocks from our DC Health Center, Trump aligned terrosts ransacked the US Capitol and we watched with horror as they paraded a symbol of hatred and oppression around the Rotunda For safety reasons, we had to close our DC Health Center
Thanks to the amazing work of scientists, COVID vaccines were rolled out at miraculous speed in the US However, when it seemed like life was coming back to some sort of normal, the Delta variant reared its head pushing up caseloads and hospitalizations Then, in September, Texas enacted SB8 a cruel and blatantly unconstitutional bill that banned abortion at six weeks of pregnancy and before many people even know they're pregnant. Specifically designed to intimidate doctors and other clinical staff from providing safe and legal abortion, the law allows individuals of partners, anti-abortion activists, complete strangers, or anybody to sue a provider and anyone else who assists in the provision of abortion care with a bounty of at least $10,000 in effect creating this cadre of bounty hunters, vigilantes, who have been empowered by a minority of extremist legislators.
It seems unbelievable that we ’ re still fighting to preserve the right to safe and legal abortion nearly 50 years after Roe V Wade but there we were It's hard not to lose heart and surrender to despair but we outnumber this tyrannical minority Polling has shown that the vast majority of Americans do not support these types of extreme and dangerous bans This small minority of extremist has grabbed the steering wheel of our country and their driving us off a cliff
We envision a future where access to safe and legal abortion comes without stigma, shame, or unnecessary political interference. No matter what. When we unite and work toward a future we believe in – we will succeed.
Thank you for standing with us and our patients in support of reproductive freedom. These doors stay open!
With deep gratitude,
Dana Thomas (Board Chair) and Laura Meyers, Ph D (President & CEO)