Darkness descends.

I spent most of the night awake, next to my sleeping partner, thinking about Lily Potter from J.K. Rowling’s books. As darkness descended on her family, her home, and her life, she did what women so often do: She put herself in the line of fire to protect her son, Harry.

Darkness descended, but Lily was a light — a light that extended well beyond her life.

It’s hard to find the light today. Hillary Clinton, arguably the most qualified candidate in the history of our Republic, lost the Presidency to a fascistic, unhinged narcissist who has never held elected office. It's maddening.

But then again, this is an experience that women know all too well — being overly qualified for a position yet passed over for a man with half or less of your experience and know-how.

This entire election was a poisonous well of misogyny — from our now-President-Elect’s disturbing boasts about sexually assaulting women to the endless offensive names that were thrust at Hillary Clinton. This morning, many American women are waking up to find that not only was it not a dream, but that this nightmare is now our reality.

The landscape has never been more tenuous for safe and legal abortion. After the narrow but decisive victory that the Supreme Court handed down in June, overturning the Texas law that closed safe clinics, we will be hard-pressed to find another win in the coming years. With anti-choice Republicans controlling all three branches of government, we will almost certainly see a federal 20-week abortion ban proposed, passed, and enacted. We will see Supreme Court Justices proposed and likely appointed who wish to undo Roe v. Wade. If and when this happens, abortion will be a right only for those in select states. Geography will determine what you can and can’t do with your body.

This feels utterly devastating — to have fought so hard for so long, to be so close to progress, only to be snapped by a cruel and disturbing backlash for which most of us didn’t prepare. How do we move forward? What will we do?