By 
Chicago mayor Lori Lightfoot is among those concerned about the implications of overturning Roe v. Wade beyond abortion, such as whether landmark Supreme Court rulings that have legalized birth control and same-sex marriage could also be put in jeopardy.
“To my friends in the LGBTQ+ community — the Supreme Court is coming for us next. This moment has to be a call to arms,” Lightfoot, Chicago’s first Black gay woman mayor, wrote in a Twitter
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thread Monday night that went viral.
“We will not surrender our rights without a fight — a fight to victory!” she added.
The thread drew more than 3,000 “likes” and was shared more than 7,000 times on Twitter by Tuesday morning. It also led “Lori Lightfoot” and “call to arms” to trend in the U.S. well into Tuesday morning. Some conservative critics likened her “call to arms” as a call to violence on par with the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol. Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) called on her to resign.
Lightfoot also announced a $500,000 investment in the Chicago Department of Public Health earlier in the day to support abortion access for women. And if Roe v. Wade is overturned, a number of states have laws that would “trigger” an abortion ban, including Illinois neighbors Kentucky and Missouri. So Illinois is anticipating an increase in abortions from women coming in from other states seeking reproductive care.
Companies including Tesla
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Amazon
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Yelp
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and Microsoft
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have already offered to reimburse their employees who travel to seek abortion access, reproductive care and gender affirming care.
Roughly half of women who have abortions live below the federal poverty level, with 75% of them being classified as low income, up from 27% in 2000.
The $500K investment is part of Lightfoot’s “Justice for All” pledge to keep the city a safe haven for many people’s rights, including “women’s rights, trans rights, immigrant rights and of course the right to same sex and interracial marriage,” she said Monday.
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