Many will be forced into pregnancy after Roe decision, abortion rights advocate says

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• Judy Woodruff:

  And now to Alexis McGill Johnson. She is the president of the Planned Parenthood Action Fund. It's the political arm of the country's largest abortion provider.

  Alexis McGill Johnson, thank you very much for joining us.

  So what is your reaction to this historic decision?

• Alexis McGill Johnson, President, Planned Parenthood Action Fund:

  Well, obviously, Judy, I'm devastated.

  It is so challenging to have lost faith and hope in the institution that controls, literally, our bodies, our freedom. The fact that they came out with this decision, even though we saw a leaked version of it less than a month ago, it feels even harder to see it come to fruition.

• Judy Woodruff:

  What do you think the practical effect of it is going to be for American women, for American families?

• Alexis McGill Johnson:

  The practical effect is that people will have to go to great lengths to get out of their states to get access to care.

  We know that 26 states are poised to ban access to abortion or severely restrict access. We know that 36 million women and nonbinary and trans folk will be affected by this decision. We know the people who will be most impacted are likely to be low-income, rural, Black, brown indigenous communities, who may lack the resources to be able to get out of state.

  So it means that many people will be forced into pregnancy. And that will have a devastating consequences for the families they're currently caring for, much less themselves and their communities.

• Judy Woodruff:

  And what does it mean for Planned Parenthood and for other organizations like yours that support abortion rights? What do you do now?

• Alexis McGill Johnson:

  Oh, look, I have lost hope in the court, but I have a lot of hope in the people.

  Now is the time for us to fight back. And that is exactly what we are planning to do. We are mobilizing people across the country to ensure that they know what is at stake, to ensure that every lawmaker, every corporation, every university understands the impact that this will have on their constituents, on their work force, on their communities, on their students, and to ensure that no one gets to stay neutral in this moment.

  No one gets to say, well, that's a complicated, controversial issue I don't want to touch.

  When it starts to impact your community, you will have to take a stand. And we're going to force everyone who is in every community to have that conversation around what's at play right now.

• Judy Woodruff:

  The anti-abortion movement, many of its leaders are now saying they are not stopping with this. They are going to look now to try to ban abortion nationwide.

  How will you respond to that?

  Alexis McGill JohnsonThey have been forecasting this for so long.

  We can see how incredibly emboldened that they are that they're showing their entire playbook. Not only do they want to push for a nationwide six-week ban, which Mitch McConnell said he would take up if he became Senate majority leader again. We know they will be moving to try to identify opportunities to amend the Constitution for other protections.

  So we have to fight back and be just as relentless to fight their extremism. And that is exactly what we are going to do.

• Judy Woodruff:

  And, finally, Alexis McGill Johnson, what is your message to young women, to families who are out there listening to this, listening to you right now, who are questioning what it means for them and what they should do now?

  What is your message?

• Alexis McGill Johnson:

  You know, my message is the same message I gave to my daughter, my 13-year-old daughter, 10-year-old daughter, both of whom are going to grow up with less rights than I have enjoyed for the last 49 years of my life.

  And I told them, we are going to fight this at every turn. Now is the time to be engaged in the fight. Now is the time to make sure that future generations continue to maintain and hold rights. We have to make sure that every movement understands that we have to make it relevant for every single generation.

  And we want young women to grow up in a world where they are able to pursue their own freedom, their own imagination. And we are going to continue to fight with them and for them until they take the baton, so they can fight along with us.

• Judy Woodruff:

  Alexis McGill Johnson, the president of the Planned Parenthood Action Fund, thank you very much.

• Alexis McGill Johnson:

  Thank you for having me.