We Cannot Leave Black Women, Trans People, and Gender Expansive People Behind: Why We Need Reproductive Justice
Photo by Claudio Schwarz on Unsplash.
By Karla Mendez
With the recent news of the Texas abortion ban sweeping the nation, the author writes on the dire need to center Black people of all genders in the enduring fight for reproductive justice.
Centering the Most Marginalized: Moving Beyond A Single-Axis White Feminist Reproductive Rights Framework
Over the last few decades, the terms reproductive rights and abortion rights have become a part of the feminist lexicon and are synonymous with the mainstream white feminist movement. Those in the feminist movement continue to advocate for the freedom to choose, especially today. The introduction of the first birth control pill, Enovid, in 1950 carved the path for the reproductive rights movement, which advocated for the right for people to choose when they would like to conceive. In addition, reproductive rights gave people the right and freedom to terminate a pregnancy, use contraceptives, and access sex education and reproductive health services. In 1973, the landmark case Roe v. Wade established the constitutional right to access abortions safely and legally.
While we can not deny the historical impact of Roe v. Wade and the birth control pill, these events did not equally extend the same autonomy to Black people, especially Black women. Historically, white middle-class and wealthy women had the privilege of ‘choice’ concerning reproductive rights. In contrast, marginalized communities have not had access to those same options. Even though legally there was the right have to an abortion, that right is not worth much if a portion of the population does not have a way to obtain these services. The oversight by the white mainstream movement on the inequities that Black women, trans, queer, disabled, and gender diverse people face in accessing safe abortion, affordable contraceptives, and sex education has shifted advocacy almost exclusively to abortion rights.
For some, the topic of abortion rights is especially contentious, with people being pro-choice or pro-life. The argument for people deciding what to do with their bodies instead of being patrolled by the government has been at the forefront of the abortion rights movement. Although abortion was commonly practiced in the 18th century, it was not until about 1880 that it was criminalized. The ensuing fight to decriminalize abortion continues to this day.
With the passage of Roe v. Wade, The Supreme Court ruled that no state could outlaw or regulate an abortion that was performed during the first trimester. However, recently Roe v. Wade provisions ended in Texas, when the state passed a new law - the SB 8 law - banning abortions after six weeks of pregnancy, which means they have banned abortions when a fetal heartbeat is detected. This six-week time frame of fetal detectability is often before a person even knows they are pregnant. According to a recent NPR article, the SB 8 law:
“...allows private citizens to sue abortion providers and anyone else who helps a woman obtain an abortion—including those who give a woman a ride to a clinic or provide financial assistance to obtain an abortion. Private citizens who bring these suits don't need to show any connection to those they are suing The law makes no exceptions for cases involving rape or incest.”
While The Supreme Court has upheld and protected for almost 50 years that states may not ban a person’s right to an abortion up until fetal viability, on September 1st, the Court, in a 5-4 decision, voted to uphold the Texas SB 8 law. The potential consequences of this decision mean that other states will be able overturn and undo the legislative progress of Roe v. Wade.
With this new wave of criminalization against abortion access and reproductive health in Texas, it is imperative we center Black people of all genders and utilize reproductive justice as a key framework and praxis in our resistance. Unfortunately, the white cis-heteronormative feminist washing of the abortion rights movement has often overlooked and excluded Black trans people, women, non-binary people, and gender-expansive people’s intersectional experiences regarding reproductive access, health, and justice. For example, Black women are more likely to live in states that heavily restrict access to abortion, are more likely not to have health insurance, and cannot afford birth control. According to a 2019 “Queering Reproductive Justice: A Mini Toolkit” by the National LGBTQ+ Taskforce, “trans people of color, including multiracial (42%), American Indian (41%), Black (40%), and Latin[x] (37%) respondents, were more likely to not have seen a health care provider in the past year due to cost...and 23% of transgender respondents reported that a provider intentionally misgendered them or used the wrong name.”
Moreover, the mainstream abortion rights movement overlooks that it has been Black women, people of color, and gender expansive people who are at the vanguard for the fight for reproductive justice, access, and care. This is why that in the fight for reproductive justice, especially in the contemporary, we can no longer afford to leave Black people of all genders behind.
Restrictive Legislation
Since Roe v. Wade ruling, U.S. Congress and other states such as Arkansas have continuously attempted to restrict access to abortions. One of the most significant ways this has been done is through the Hyde Amendment, which prevents funds for government programs such as Medicaid from being used for abortions. For example, Black women and women of color overwhelmingly use Medicaid with 31% of Black women and 27% of Hispanic women between the ages of 15 and 44 enrolled in the program. For decades, the Amendment made it difficult for people of color and low-income people to access abortions. However, for the first time since the 1970s, in May of this year, the House of Representatives passed a federal spending bill that omitted the Hyde Amendment.
Political leaders have aggressively passed legislation in the past ten years, making it more difficult for people to gain access to sexual and reproductive healthcare. New legislation restricting access has resulted in patients delaying care and has forced clinics to close, making it more difficult for Black women and gender expansive people to keep up with their reproductive health. During the Trump presidency, the administration consistently wielded attacks on abortion and birth control. The Trump administration went so far as to propose budget cuts to housing, nutrition, and healthcare programs that Black people and people of color overwhelmingly use.
Throughout the years, the reproductive rights movement has failed to address that it is not enough to pass laws like Roe v. Wade. For reproductive health care to benefit all people, we need to confront anti-Blackness, transphobia, misogynoir, xenophobia, food insecurity, access to clean water, economic insecurities, and more. Ignoring these issues and how they impact marginalized communities will not make them go away: just like ignoring the welfare family caps of the 1990s that worked to block federal assistance from Black women who chose to become pregnant as a form of punishment did not stop officeholders from instituting such laws.
The lived experiences of Black people of all genders differ significantly from people-particularly white cis women-who have often been viewed as the main leaders of the abortions rights and reproductive rights movement in mainstream media. It is for this reason that reproductive justice is needed. Reproductive justice is rooted in the right of people-particularly Black and other marginalized communities- to control their bodies, their sexuality, gender, and reproduction. Three principles guide reproductive justice: the right to have a child, not to have a child, and raising that child in a safe and healthy environment.
Black Women and Equal Access to Reproductive Healthcare
In 1989, 16 Black women published “We Remember: African American Women Are For Reproductive Freedom”, the first collective statement advocating equal access to reproductive healthcare. Among the statement’s signers were former Representative Shirley Chisholm, Representative Maxine Waters, and civil rights activist Dr. Dorothy Height. The statement highlighted the lack of freedom that Black people had experienced since they were enslaved and forcibly brought to the United States and how they were treated as if they could not think for themselves and have bodily autonomy. Just as that lack of freedom saw Black women’s bodies being abused, the statement further noted that a lack of access to comprehensive healthcare would be another way Black women and their bodies would be governed. The statement marked the first time the term “reproductive freedom” was used in public vocabulary, and it worked to explore reproductive health beyond abortion rights. Reproductive freedom as a concept examines how racism, poverty, and structural policies work to affect access to Black women and women of color, the LGBTQ+ community, young people, and people from low-income backgrounds.
In 1994, after decades of their needs being overlooked, a group of Black women came together in Chicago to coin the term “reproductive justice,” calling themselves Women of African Descent for Reproductive Justice. During their initial meeting, they discussed the needs of women of color and poor women that mainstream feminism typically ignored. They advocated for an intersectional approach to healthcare, focusing on race, gender, sexuality, and class. The group recognized the importance of bridging reproductive rights to social justice, and they demanded that the struggle for abortion rights and reproductive health work should not be separated.
SisterSong’s Reproductive Justice Activism
Women of African Descent for Reproductive Justice may have coined the term reproductive justice, but it was not the only organization in the 1990s advocating for it. In 1997, SisterSong Women of Color Reproductive Justice Collective was founded by 16 organizations of women of color (Native American, African American, Latina, and Asian American) who understood that if they wanted their communities to be represented and their perspectives and needs heard, they would have to establish their own organizations. They carved a space for a more inclusive national movement that worked towards elevating the needs of the most marginalized people, families, and communities. For SisterSong, reproductive justice is defined as “the human right to maintain personal bodily autonomy, have children or not have children, and have the freedom and right to parent children in safe and sustainable communities.”
SisterSong began to use “reproductive justice” in 2003 at their first national conference, the SisterSong National Women of Color Reproductive Health and Sexual Rights. Many activists attended the conference, including Byllye Avery, Luz Alvarez Martinez, and Barbara Smith. Over 600 people participated in the conference, and the group hosted workshops that explored the concept of reproductive justice. SisterSong decided to use reproductive justice as their principal organizing strategy. Furthermore, SisterSong is working towards establishing reproductive justice as a household term, much like women’s rights and civil rights. The organization is one of few women-of-color-led groups advocating for reproductive justice that has achieved national recognition.
Loretta J. Ross and Reproductive Health Activism
Among the founders of SisterSong is reproductive justice activist Loretta J.Ross, who also was part of the Women of African Descent. Ross began her activism as a student at Howard University, a historically Black university. One of Ross’s introductions to reproductive health activism began when the intrauterine device (IUD) she had from Dalkon Shield, which she had received at the Howard free clinic, caused her to become sterile. She was only 23 years-old. Shortly after receiving the IUD, she developed pelvic inflammatory disease and lived with it for six months. Over the next six months, she visited doctors who were of no help to her, as they all told her that she most likely had an sexually transmitted from having sex with GI solidiers who were previously in Vienam, even though she did not know any GI solideres. The untreated pelvic inflammatory disease eventually caused her to fall into a coma. During this time, her doctors performed a non-consensual hysterectomy, including the removal of her ovaries. Ross believed that Dalkon Shield had deliberately been placed on the Howard campus as a form of anti-Black population control. This egregious violation of her bodily autonomy galvanized her to become active in reproductive justice.
Unfortunately, Ross is not the only person with a story such as this that has inspired people to be a part of the reproductive justice movement. Although Ross became one of the first Black women to win a lawsuit against A.H. Robbins–the company that manufactured the Dalkon Shield IUD that led her to be sterilized–her experience is an example of why reproductive justice is needed. As expressed by Ross, issues like housing, child care, and interpersonal partner and sexual violence should be considered when discussing reproductive rights, as they can and do impact a person’s ability to make decisions about their body.
Reproductive Justice, Not Just Rights
Prior to the recent enactment of Texas’s SB 8 abortion ban, many were focused on the Dobbs v. Jackson’s Women’s Health Organization case, where the U.S. Supreme Court has yet to make a decision on whether or not Mississippi is able to uphold abortion bans. The U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling will impact 35 percent of people in the U.S. and their access to legal abortion. But as the legality of abortions has never fully protected all people and those who are marginalized are the ones who have, are currently, and will continue to suffer the most.
Reproductive justice allows us to question how issues such as livable wages are just as necessary in advocating for comprehensive reproductive health. As activist Brea Baker notes, the conversations surrounding reproductive rights fail to center those affected by the very same issues the mainstream white feminist abortion movement claims to be advocating for.
No longer can we ignore how incarcerated Black women and women of color have been victims of forced sterilization. We cannot continue to look at reproductive healthcare and access from a cis-heteronormative and ableist lens that excludes the experiences and needs of queer people, transgender people, Two-Spirit, disabled people, and gender expansive people. We cannot ignore that statistically, Black maternal mortality rates are the highest of any racial or ethnic group. We cannot ignore and overlook that immigration, state violence, voting rights, and environmental justice are also reproductive justice issues.
Reproductive justice means rejecting and transforming the past exclusionary narratives that we have consistently been offered. It means not focusing solely on the idea of choice within the abortion rights and reproductive rights movement. It means recognizing Black women and gender expansive people’s leadership in the enduring fight for reproductive justice, care, and access because we have always been at the forefront of the movement. It means imagining a space and a world where all people can truly have equitable access and be free. We need reproductive justice, not just rights.
About the author:
Karla Mendez (she/her/hers) is currently an undergraduate student at the University of Central Florida, pursuing a major in Interdisciplinary Studies and a double minor in Political Science and Women’s and Gender Studies. She holds a certificate in Feminism and Social Justice from the University of California, Santa Cruz, and has just completed an internship with the United Nations Association. In addition to being a student, she is a freelance writer. Karla is of Puerto Rican and Dominican descent, she recognizes the importance of intersectionality in feminism, and as such, her research and writing focus on the intersection of race, gender, class, and politics.
With her writing and research, she wants to introduce people to historical figures who paved the way for change while bringing awareness to how discrimination and oppression can affect people differently. She will continue to explore her research as she begins graduate school next year to pursue a Master’s in Women’s Studies and American Studies. When she isn’t studying or reading for school, she enjoys reading for fun, watching old movies, and spending time with her family. You can follow her on Instagram.