What is reproductive justice?
By Aarna Dixit
Image via Progressive-Charleston.com
Reproductive justice was a term coined in 1994, though BIPOC and trans women have always fought for reproductive freedom. SisterSong, one of the major reproductive justice organizations led by Black women, defines reproductive justice as the human right to maintain personal bodily autonomy, have children, not have children and parent the children we have in safe and sustainable communities.
Reproductive justice isn’t just about abortion, though that is a critical issue. Reproductive freedom is about access to all sexual and reproductive health care, like contraception, comprehensive sex education, STI prevention and care, alternative birth options, adequate prenatal and pregnancy care, domestic violence assistance, adequate wages to support our families, safe homes and so much more.
Reproductive justice isn’t just about choice, but access, and ensuring that all demographics have access to the reproductive health care they need. Holding an intersectional lens and recognizing the barriers BIPOC and LGBT+ women face when accessing reproductive health care is an important part of reproductive justice. Even when abortion is legal, many marginalized communities cannot acces this right. There is no choice where there is no access.
Difference between reproductive rights and reproductive justice
Reproductive rights and reproductive justice aren’t exactly the same.
The reproductive rights framework is centered on achieving women’s individualistic reproductive freedom through the legal system and has historically focused on the pro-choice and pro-life debate, sex education and family planning. The reproductive justice framework, however, acknowledges the ways that socioeconomic status, gender and race shape reproductive health care experiences and health policy. As such, the reproductive rights framework is a more individualistic and legal approach, while reproductive justice is expansive, intersectional and holistic.
History of the reproductive justice movement
To truly understand reproductive justice and its goals we must learn about the beginnings of the movement.
The early start of reproductive justice was with the late 19th century notion of voluntary motherhood, which emphasized the right to choose if and when to reproduce. First-wave feminists advocated for free love and voluntary motherhood, promoting women’s reproductive rights alongside female suffrage and equality.
The right to choose motherhood was further expanded by activists like Margaret Sanger, who promoted the development and use of birth control. Sanger published the “Birth Control Review” and established the organization that eventually became Planned Parenthood, with the aim of spreading knowledge about contraception as well as access to it. Sanger’s neo-Malthusian and eugenic convictions should be acknowledged as integral to her perspective, which was informed by racist and classist ideas about who should and should not reproduce.
Abortion, one of the most controversial areas of reproductive justice, came to the forefront of activism movements around the 1960s alongside the civil rights movements. There was also the push to explore other reproductive health care and options. Many women felt that the complex realities of their reproductive lives were shadowed by the mainstream feminist movement’s emphasis on abortion while other reproductive options like adoption were often excluded.
In the 1970s and 1980s, women of color began organizing around the understanding of reproductive rights, combatting reproductive coercion and expanding access to birth control and abortion. CARASA, the Committee for Abortion Rights and Against Sterilization Abuse, was at the center of this movement, as it linked race, class and gender analysis, thus reflecting the intersectional approach of reproductive justice. Organizations such as the Welfare Warriors, founded in 1986, also called for a more inclusive take on reproductive justice.
In 1973, the U.S. Supreme Court case Roe v. Wade affirmed that access to safe and legal abortion is a constitutional right. We’ll circle back to that in a bit.
In September 1989, 16 Black women published the first collective statement advocating for equal access to reproductive health care, urging advocates of reproductive freedom to consider the differences and barriers in reproductive access for women of color. This brochure was distributed on the heels of the Supreme Court case Webster v. Reproductive Health Services, which ruled that states had the right to limit abortion access. Former Senator Shirley Chisholm, Donna Brazile, former Planned Parenthood President Faye Wattleton and Congresswoman Maxine Waters were four of the 16 signatures, advocating for the right to comprehensive sex education, a large range of options for contraceptives, and the right to legal abortion amongst others.
“Reproductive freedom is a life and death issue for many Black women and deserves as much recognition as any other freedom,” read the statement, which demanded that health-care reform provide funding not just for abortion but also “the full range of reproductive services,” including prenatal care, contraception and screening and treatment for cancer, STDs and HIV/AIDS. The statement also asserted that the health care plan “must include strong anti-discriminatory provisions to ensure the protection of all women of color, the elderly, the poor and those with disabilities. In addition, the plan must not discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation.”
It was in 1994 that the reproductive justice movement reached a major milestone. A group of mostly white women gathered at a conference in Chicago to hear about the Clinton Administration’s proposal for health care reform, which de-centered reproductive health care in an attempt to head off Republican criticism. The few Black women present at the conference were concerned. There was little focus on health services like pre- and postnatal care, fibroid screenings or STI tests, and seemingly no understanding on how Black women’s “choices” around parenthood and reproductive care were often blocked by things like income, housing and the criminal-justice system. As a result, 12 Black women leaders gathered in a hotel room to discuss how to address these disparities.
The 12 founding mothers of the reproductive justice movement—Toni M. Bond Leonard, Reverend Alma Crawford, Evelyn S. Field, Terri James, Bisola Marignay, Cassandra McConnell, Cynthia Newbille, Lorretta Ross, Elizabeth Terry, ‘Able’ Mable Thomas, Winnette P. Willis, and Kim Youngblood—came together to adopt a human rights framework for BIPOC and low-income women that addressed issues of bodily autonomy and reproductive decision-making.
The group called themselves the Women of African Descent for Reproductive Justice. Three years later, 16 organizations including Black, Asian-American, Latina and Indigenous women came together to create SisterSong, a collective devoted to the reproductive and sexual health of women and gender-nonconforming people of color, based in Atlanta.
Roe v. Wade and reproductive justice today
You can't really talk about Reproductive Justice without talking about Roe v. Wade, so let's do that.
Roe v. Wade was a landmark decision that made abortion legal in the US. However, Roe v. Wade is currently at risk like never before. This precedent has been under attack for years, and recently multiple anti-choice judges have been placed into federal courts. Three Supreme Court justices, as well as over 220 judges on the federal appellate and district courts, were appointed by Trump and confirmed by the U.S. Senate led by Mitch McConnell. Many of them have records of hostility toward sexual and reproductive rights. These judges, many of whom are young, have lifetime positions—thus, their rulings on abortion could affect generations to come.
As such, protecting the legal right to abortion that Roe v.Wade established is more crucial now than ever. At the same time, when talking about reproductive justice, it's important to talk about where Roe v. Wade falls short. The right and choice to abortion is simply not enough; as mentioned before, there needs to be access.
Even though the right to have an abortion has been federally sanctioned, abortion is a superficial right for many people. State abortion restrictions, as well as federal policies like the Hyde Amendment, keep abortion out of reach for millions of people across the country, particularly communities that already face systemic barriers to health care, such as Black and Brown communities and those with low incomes.
Today, reproductive justice is an ongoing response to past oppressions as well as new solutions against recent assaults on reproductive rights. Since the 1990s and to this day, BIPOC women have led the reproductive justice movement.
Achieving reproductive justice
So, the question we must ask ourselves now is: how do we truly achieve reproductive justice?
To achieve reproductive justice, we must analyze power systems and the gender, sexuality and race-based dynamics that limit reproductive justice. It's important to investigate the institutions that seek to govern our bodies. Another core aspect of achieving reproductive justice is intersectionality, a framework for addressing intersecting oppressions. As Audre Lorde said, “There is no such thing as a single-issue struggle because we do not live single-issue lives.” Marginalized women face multiple oppressions and reproductive justice can be achieved only by addressing these various intersecting oppressions. With this intersectional framework in mind, reproductive justice cannot be achieved until the most vulnerable and marginalized people have access to adequate resources and healthcare, and are able to live self-determined lives.
What can you do: organizations to support
You may be wondering what you can do to advance reproductive justice. Here is a list of organizations you can support, work with and donate to.
