June 23, 2026

Georgia Redistricting & Reproductive Justice Action Toolkit

Who is URGE? 

URGE: Unite for Reproductive and Gender Equity is a state-driven national Reproductive Justice organization powered by and for young people (18-30 years old) in the South, Midwest, and California. We are deeply invested in Alabama, California, Georgia, Kansas, Ohio, and Texas. We particularly center the voices of those who are BIPoC and LGBTQIA+.

Check out URGE’s Young People’s Reproductive Justice Policy Agenda where you will find this work relates to Issue Area 3: Realizing the Potential of Our Democracy.

This effort is also cosponsored by the following RJ organizations: 

Amplify Georgia 
SPARK Reproductive Justice Now 
Feminist Center for Reproductive Liberation 
Men4Choice

Check out the Georgia Reproductive Justice Policy Agenda here: Georgia RJ Agenda – Amplify Georgia Collaborative 

Why are we convening on this issue? 
The SCOTUS 6-3 ruling in May, that the Black-majority district is unconstitutional henceforth imposes limits on race-conscious redistricting. A wave of states have capitalized on this by calling their own special sessions, including Alabama, Tennessee and now Georgia. 

Governor Brian Kemp called for a special session, reconvening Georgia legislators to come together and tackle several key issues. The state’s special session began on June 17 and will still make decisions about QR codes on voting ballots, property taxes, and Governor Appointments. However, legislators have said they will not address redistricting while they meet and will adjourn Sine Die on Monday June 22. 

Our communities showed up and it worked. The legislature has stepped back from gerrymandering Georgia’s maps this Special Session. For now. They won’t stop, and neither will we. 

What’s a “Special Session”? 
A special session is a bonus convening that takes place outside of a traditional legislative session. Georgia’s legislative session, for example, ended on April 3, 2026. 

URGE and our RJ partners are celebrating that redistricting is off the table for now, while staying organized and ready. 

We know Reproductive Justice! But what is redistricting? 
Redistricting is the process of redrawing district maps which in this special session, legislators would have been able to redraw maps for every state office that is elected by district. This includes but is not limited to Georgia US House of Representatives seats, Georgia Senate seats, and Georgia House of Representatives seats.

Gerrymandering, which involves manipulating voting district maps to shape whose votes count – and whose don’t – in favor of a particular party or class, is often a tactic used for redistricting. This tactic disproportionately affects communities of color and low-income communities in the South and directly determines their ability to access decision-making power and ultimately Reproductive Justice. 

In theory, redistricting adjusts maps to account for population shifts; however, in the context of the recent Louisiana v. Callais Supreme Court decision challenging the legality of Louisiana’s second majority-Black district, we know this is intended to dilute Black voting power. 

What’s it to RJ? 
Voting Power and Reproductive Justice are deeply entwined. The people who are elected on local, state, and federal levels have the ability to make legislative decisions about our bodies, our families, and our futures. 

HOW CAN WE TAKE ACTION?
We encourage our GA partners and members to call on our state legislators via email, phone, and letter to thank them for not taking up redistricting for now, and encouraging them to follow the standard process of updating voting maps following the 2030 census. 

Below, you will find sample scripts that can be helpful when reaching out to your legislators. We’ve also included additional messages at the bottom of this toolkit to use to write your own customizable script for legislative outreach. Please feel free to share this toolkit with your networks so we can maximize outreach together!

To get started: 

• Find Your Legislator – Georgia General Assembly 
• Get their contact information from their legislative bio
  • Georgia House of Representatives: Representatives – Georgia General Assembly 
  • Georgia Senators: Senators – Georgia General Assembly 

General Script Components for Advocating with Legislators via email, call, and/or letter writing:

Dear Senator OR Representative X,  

• I am your constituent OR I am a Georgian
• Set up the problem: I am writing to talk to you about recent attempts to redistrict in Georgia
• Propose the solution: OPPOSE gerrymandered AND late decade redistricting attempts
• Include any relevant messages that resonate with you
• Be sure to include any personal story or connection you have to this issue 
• Follow up by incorporating any relevant data points 
• Underscore your ask – Please OPPOSE gerrymandering AND late decade redistricting
• Thank you, 
• Your Name 
• Your Voting Address/Role in Community  

EXAMPLE SCRIPT

“Hello Rep or Senator X,

• My name is Courtney Roark, I am your constituent in District X
• Reaching out to discuss redistricting in Georgia and how it affects Reproductive Justice
• Redistricting should only happen fairly and by the standard process of waiting until we have 2030 census data. When the Black vote is diluted, Reproductive Justice is denied.
• Please continue to hold the line, and refuse redistricting attempts that would gerrymander or take place outside of the existing process.
• Thank you for your time”

To help us track our impact, if you email, call, or write a letter email croark@urge.org and let us know that you did! 

Additional background:  

• In 2012 SCOTUS gutted the Voting Rights Act which triggered a wave of voter suppression tactics – polling site closures, cumbersome voter ID requirements, removing access to ballot drop boxes, eliminating same day registration and limiting early voting time periods to enacting stricter voter engagement laws. 
• Make no mistake: these voting restrictions are intended to target the same Black and Brown communities that turned out in record numbers throughout the United States, especially in the South and Midwest.  
• Gerrymandering refers to:
  • The concentration of certain voters into a few districts (packing), reducing their influence elsewhere or splitting communities across multiple districts (cracking), which in effect dilutes their collective voice. This results in fewer competitive elections, less accountability from elected officials and policies that don’t reflect community needs.
  • We deserve a democracy that includes the voices of those historically excluded and disproportionately prevented from participating. 
  • Even when people can cast a ballot, manipulated district maps can weaken the impact of their vote, especially in marginalized communities. In effect, communities most affected by reproductive injustice can be systematically underrepresented in decision-making.

Voting Rights & RJ Connections

• Reproductive freedom and voting rights and access are intrinsically linked.  
• Equitable access to the vote means better representation of our communities in the legislature and a higher likelihood that our basic needs (ie: comprehensive healthcare, including contraception, maternal care, abortion care, and comprehensive sex education) will have champions. 

• Disenfranchising, intimidating and disempowering voters are part of a three pronged approach to systematically target those most impacted by  anti-abortion laws and attacks on sexual and reproductive health care — Black and Brown communities, immigrants, LGBTQ+ people, low-income people, disabled folks, and young people.  
• Voting is the primary mechanism people use to protect health care access, expand economic opportunity and hold governments accountable. When voting is restricted, it further entrenches inequality and silences those most affected by harmful policy decisions.
• We vote not because it will fix everything that is wrong, but because it determines the conditions under which we will ultimately organize and fight for a more liberated future.
  • We vote not because the system is fair, but because harm is real and preventable.
    • Importantly, in our fight for voting rights we must also center those among us who are denied access to full democratic participation, whether due to their immigration status, a history of carceral punishment, or due to gerrymandering, among many other politically-motivated attempts to dilute the power of crucial voting blocs. 

Dobbs Decision Anniversary – June 24 

• We are now years past the fall of Roe v. Wade, and what we’ve learned is this: the loss of reproductive freedom was not inevitable—it was the result of political decisions made by elected officials.
• The Dobbs decision stripped away nearly 50 years of federal protection and handed power over abortion rights to politicians and state governments. 
• Who gets elected—and how they get elected—directly determines whether we have reproductive freedom or not.
• Voting rights and reproductive justice are inseparable because policy outcomes follow political power.
• The ability to vote and have our votes count, determines who makes decisions about our bodies, families, and futures.

Voting Rights = Reproductive Freedom

• Since Roe fell, we’ve seen abortion bans, criminalization, and denial of life-saving care across the country, with devastating human consequences.
• These laws were passed by lawmakers who often do not reflect the will of the majority.

The ability to vote and have our votes count determines:

• Who writes these laws
• Who blocks or passes protections
• Whether communities can fight back

Reproductive Justice Tenets:

1. Right to Not Have Children

• When districts are drawn to weaken certain voting blocs:
  • communities with diluted voting power may be unable to elect leaders who support abortion access and contraception
• This can lead to:
  • restrictive laws that don’t reflect the will of the people – After Roe fell, restrictive laws have spread rapidly across states. 

2. Right to Have Children

• Communities most affected by maternal health disparities are often politically fragmented through redistricting. 
• Maternal health crises have worsened since the Dobbs decision. 
• As a result:
  • their needs (like prenatal care access and hospital funding) may be under-prioritized
• Fragmented districts also leads to less accountability for health disparities 

3. Right to Parent in Safe and Healthy Environments

• Redistricting can weaken advocacy for:
  • affordable housing
  • environmental protections
  • school funding
• Post-Dobbs decision policies are part of broader attacks on:
  • Health care access 
  • Economic stability 
• When communities are divided across districts:
  • it becomes harder to organize and demand systemic improvements

Young People Power:

• Young people too often aren’t included in political decisions and conversations about issues that affect OUR bodies, OUR lives, and OUR families.  
• Gen-Z are the most diverse generations in US history. Now that we collectively make up the largest eligible voting population, we have the power to make the rest of the country respond to the needs of Black, Brown, Indigenous, Immigrant, and other marginalized communities. Our communities have gone long enough without seeing ourselves reflected in our elected officials and in their decisions. It’s time we take back our power and put people in office who represent us.

Additional messages for meetings, emails, letters, and calls: 

The Problem: Gerrymandering Enables Harm

• These practices lead to:
  • Fewer competitive elections
  • Less accountability from elected officials
  • Policy outcomes disconnected from community needs
  • Laws that restrict abortion even when most residents support access
  • Policies that create widespread suffering and medical crises

Who Is Most Affected

• Redistricting disproportionately impacts:
  • Communities of color
  • Low-income communities
• These same communities:
  • Face the greatest barriers to reproductive health care
  • Experience worse maternal and overall health outcomes
• Result: Communities most impacted by reproductive injustice are often the least represented politically.

Real-world impact includes:

• People denied emergency care
• Forced to travel across state lines
• Providers criminalized

These harms are not abstract—they are policy choices made possible by distorted representation. 

Bottom line:
You cannot achieve reproductive justice without political power.

Key Takeaways for Legislators

• Fair maps = fair representation = fair reproductive policy outcomes
• Redistricting is not just a technical process—it is a civil rights and health equity issue
• Protecting voting power is essential to protecting reproductive freedom

Closing Call to Action
Oppose voter suppression tactics AND late decade redistricting. 

We need fair, transparent, and community-centered redistricting processes that ensure maps:

• Keep communities intact
• Reflect population diversity
• Protect equal representation

Because when votes are diluted, reproductive justice is denied.

Staying engaged with our work in Georgia beyond this moment: 

• Join us on Beyond Roe Day June 24 6-7:30PM EST for the Fake Clinics Suck Community Chat at TINYURL.COM/FCSCOMMUNITYCHAT
• Sign the Reproductive Freedom Act Petition: https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/sign-on-support-the-reproductive-freedom-act/ 
• Sign the Fake Clinics Suck Petition: https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/we-must-hold-anti-abortion-centers-accountable/ 
• Join our online community in Amplify Georgia’s Discord for more ways to act going forward: https://discord.gg/MQrwtAThY