When the fight for safe and legal abortions was in full swing in the late 1960s, a group of radical feminists in New York passed around a blank sheet of paper to show legislators that zero legislation was their ideal abortion law. “They advocated repeal and repeal meant no laws on abortion. They argued that any reform, no matter how liberal, was a defeat since it maintained the State’s right to legislate control over women’s bodies” (The Story of Jane: The Legendary Underground Feminist Abortion Service, 1995).

These "radical feminists" were right. After the Supreme Court’s landmark decision of Roe v. Wade, of which we celebrate its 45th Anniversary, abortion rights over the years have been chipped away with one restriction after another, with some attempts more successful than others. From proposed “personhood” bills that place more human value on the fetus than on the woman, to clinics being closed because they do not meet arbitrary rules determined by Red State legislators, the fight has continued.

Until the Government stops legislating women’s bodies, until women have complete autonomy over their bodies, with zero restrictions regardless of whether they live in a Blue or Red State, until our legislators recognize that REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS = CIVIL RIGHTS, this fight will continue.