An Open Letter to My Daughter As Our Fundamental Rights Are Being Ripped Away — by Laphonza Butler

Dear Nylah,

Being your mom is the greatest gift I’ve ever received in life. When I look at you, I see the embodiment of the hopes and dreams of our ancestors — a child who is free; free to dream and wonder, and determine how far she wants to go in life.

When I accepted the role as president of EMILY’s List less than a year ago, it was my desire to serve our country, you and all of America’s daughters so that we all could freely dream and manifest those visions into action that would change the world. Unfortunately, I fear that true freedom in our country is disappearing. And in a pursuit of power, a small group is working to roll back hard-fought progress.

Earlier this week, we saw a draft of the Supreme Court decision that would end women’s freedom as we know it and hurt millions of women across the country by pushing necessary health care out of reach. The women who would be most harshly impacted by this likely decision look like you and me; and live in communities where there aren’t a lot of health care or economic resources.

And the people who want this draft decision to stand, won’t stop there.

The same politicians working to restrict the right to have control over our own bodies are the ones making it harder for people to vote, and they do this knowing that we cannot have the right to make decisions about our own bodies without our most fundamental right to vote. And these are yet again, the same politicians who also don’t believe in science, who are attacking trans-youth and erasing the history of our country by banning books. With so much dishonesty in our world, it’s my dream of living in a world that protects you and all America’s daughters that fuels the fight in me.

In these tough moments, one life lesson you should take and keep with you is that in order to keep certain freedoms, you must be willing to fight for them.

As I grew up, I watched and learned about women who fought for voting rights, civil rights and reproductive freedom among others. Now, it is my turn to fight for your future.

Granny Sarah (my mother) didn’t talk about politics much when I was growing up, but seeing her sacrifice and navigating life while ensuring that my dreams were possible planted a seed inside of me — a seed that grew into a career-long journey of fighting for working women who had been left behind. And like Granny Sarah, I work daily so that you and all of America’s little girls have a future where you don’t have to worry about your rights being taken away — a future where your vision isn’t obstructed by restrictive and harmful policies put in place by people who refuse to see you.

As you grow into adolescence, and then into young womanhood, remember that if you don’t continue to fight for your rights, just as swiftly as progress comes, it can be slowly chipped away at and completely rolled back.

Today in my job at EMILY’s List, I work every day for women like Yadira Caraveo running for Congress in Colorado’s 8th District. As a doctor, Caraveo sat with young women and helped them understand their choices about their futures.

I work for women like Nan Whaley, who’s running to be governor in Ohio, and pledged to block any laws that might lessen a woman’s freedoms. Nan even worked with community members and doctors to keep clinics open and provide reproductive care.

I work for women like New York Attorney General Letitia James who in 2021 led a group of 17 attorneys general from around the country to ensure fair access to elections. And told her own courageous story of making her decisions about her body.

I work for women like Bee Nguyen, who is running for Georgia secretary of state, in charge of all the state’s election rules. Bee successfully led the fight to restore the right to vote for 53,000 Georgians. Bee stood strong for Georgia women to be able to have the freedom to make choices about their own bodies.

There are so many leaders, men and women, that are fighting for the future of little girls across the country, including you. They work every day so that the draft that we all saw this week from the Supreme Court is someday permanently corrected to ensure our reproductive rights are protected no matter what.

My assignment for you is to fight to be true to who you have shown me you are — a fearless, smart, kind person who cares deeply about others. One day, it will be your responsibility to stand up and defend those who can’t or may be afraid to use their own voice.

I will do my very best now but one day it will be your turn.

Laphonza Butler is the president of EMILY’s List, the nation’s largest resource for women in politics. She is the first mom to lead the organization. Butler is a proud mom to seven-year-old Nylah.