Earlier this month, the Supreme Court’s leaked draft opinion signaling the likely overturn of Roe v. Wade was a shocking development. While the removal of abortion rights is not unexpected based on the Court’s current composition, it was still a major surprise. Many of you may be frustrated, mad, and even feeling hopeless, but we cannot stop now. As Vice President Kamala Harris stated following the failed vote on the Women’s Health Protection Act, “We [...] clearly know we need to elect pro-choice leaders from the local, to the federal level who will defend and uphold a woman’s right to make decisions about her own body.”
If this decision goes forward in the form that was leaked, many other rights may also be affected, including interracial marriage and the decriminalization of homosexuality. We need everyone to vote in November and to make sure their friends and family are also voting. If you haven’t requested your ballot, go to votefromabroad.org today!
Immediately after the leak, we were grateful to speak with Sung Yeon Choimorrow, Executive Director of the National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum. She talked about the “Auntie” network that they are building for outreach to ensure that our community is informed of their rights, and also emphasized how impactful a ban on abortion could be to the AAPI community. If you missed this eye-opening event, you can watch the recording.
We kicked off AAPI Heritage Month with Congresswoman Grace Meng (NY). She spoke about the importance of AAPI voters, her experience growing up as Asian American, and the challenges still facing the AAPI community, especially in light of the rise in anti-AAPI hate.
There are still more events ahead this month:
- Preserving Our Voices for the Future - Remembering the legacy of Japanese American incarceration on May 19th with Brian Niiya, Editor of the Densho Online Encyclopedia, and Grace Shimizu, Director of the Japanese Peruvian Oral History Project and Coordinator of the Campaign for Justice: Redress NOW for Japanese Latin Americans!
- Climate Cafe on May 25th hosted by the DA Environment & Climate Crisis Council. Join them to discuss the effects of climate change on the Asian Pacific region.
- Unity, Inclusion, and a Shared Commitment to Human Dignity - an interactive session with Diego Sanchez, Director, Advocacy, Policy & Partnerships, PFLAG on May 28th
We hope you can join us at one of our upcoming events. If you are looking for ways to get involved, especially as the midterms approach, you can find various opportunities on our website. You can also make a donation to Democrats Abroad on behalf of the AAPI Caucus here. Your financial support to our all-volunteer organization will help pay for voter outreach, improvements to our website, and more.
Best wishes,
Emily Lines
Chair, AAPI Caucus