FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 22, 2026
CONTACT: Emily Witt (she/her), [email protected]
On the 53rd anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the Founding Members of the State Abortion Access Network (SAAN), a group of state-based reproductive advocacy nonprofits, are jointly commemorating the landmark ruling. SAAN members vow to build and foster a movement that centers reproductive justice, while fighting for abortion access beyond what Roe’s privacy-based protections provided.
The Founding Members of the State Abortion Access Network (SAAN) issued the following statement:
“On the 53rd Anniversary of Roe v. Wade, we have something to say:
Welcome to the modern reproductive justice movement.
“For decades, reproductive rights advocates fought to protect baseline abortion access under the protection of Roe v. Wade. That time is over. As threats to our democracy continue to ramp up across the country, we’re witnessing how attacks on bodily autonomy are at the root of authoritarian governance.
“Roe was the bare minimum. Our fight is to create a culture and country where abortion is safe, legal, accessible, and destigmatized. Our fight is to have more freedom over our bodies, our communities, and our care.
“We, the Founding Members of the State Abortion Access Network (SAAN), are a network of reproductive advocacy organizations from across the country, bound together in our work to create a ground-up movement to fortify abortion access for everyone.
“Long before the fall of Roe, people seeking abortions — especially Black and brown abortion seekers — were shamed and criminalized. Roe’s protections did not mean access, affordability, or even safety for many. Without its protections, criminalization is a reality laid bare for all to see. We know in ban states, no amount of privilege saves you from the cruelty of abortion bans.
“We are contending for protections beyond Roe that center abortion access and reproductive justice. Our communities don’t just deserve to give birth when and if they choose — they deserve to thrive with access to food, clean drinking water, and safety from state surveillance and violence.
“Since the fall of Roe, voters in states across the nation, red and blue, have consistently supported protecting abortion access each time it’s on the ballot.
“In Texas — the very state where Roe originated — voters in deep-Red Amarillo rejected a law that sought to block abortion seekers from traveling on their roads to get out of the state for care.
“In Ohio, advocates defended against the nation’s first six-week abortion ban for nine years before it was signed into law. Our ballot initiative fight required a coalition to defeat a special election that was solely designed to make it harder to amend the state constitution, before winning abortion rights in the general election.
“We have power, and the majority of Americans are unified in their support of abortion access. Our opponents know this, which is why anti-abortion politicians and extremists have continued to push restrictions in every state — harassing patients and providers inside and outside of courtrooms at every opportunity, and seeking to steal our access to medication abortion, a safe resource available to people across the country.
“Our opponents seek to make abortion a divisive issue. But these wins at the ballot box post-Dobbs confirm what we have known all along: Abortion is more popular than both political parties, and when it’s on the ballot, removed from a party or candidate, it is always a winning issue.
“In 1973, Roe was a landmark. In 2026, it is a legacy we can commemorate and look beyond to regain freedom over our own bodies. We must center and uplift storytellers to bust abortion stigma and transform our culture.
“We will no longer beg for scraps and whisper in the shadows. We must boldly proclaim that abortion is joy and fight for governance with reproductive justice at the center.
“Together, our state organizations will fight against any state and federal restriction that steals autonomy over our bodies. We all deserve to build our futures and lives on our own terms.”
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