The first chapter of Undivided
Rights (titled Women of Color and
Their Struggle for Reproductive Justice) introduces us to various groups
centered around expanding definitions around reproductive justice. The
definitions have become more inclusive of societal factors frequently overlooked
by white activists, both historically and contemporary, who often focus on
pro-choice and safe abortions. Although these issues are very pressing, they do
not encompass the needs of many women of color who are often not given the
protection under the law. On page 12 of the chapter, the author states “ ‘Choice’
implies a marketplace of options in which women’s right to determine what
happens to their bodies is legally protected, ignoring the fact that for women
of color, economic and social constraints often restrict their ‘choices’ “.
It is very important to remember how state restrictive measures,
whether implicit or explicit, still largely impact various groups of women and
their access to reproductive justice. An example the article talks about is the
family caps policies which denied additional benefits to women that had more
children while receiving benefits from public assistance. This state inflicted
constraint withholds a woman’s choice of family planning as they are forced to
choose between having more kids but less benefits to distribute, or not having
kids but maintaining substantial access to welfare. Combined, women of color rely
on various forms of state benefits for medical care or food. Presenting
reproductive justice as merely a ‘choice’ can be problematic when not executed
through an intersectional lens and women of color are often at crossroads
between their ‘choices’.
The idea of legal protection is something many activists of
color grapple with considering the abusive history of state inflicted violence
against communities of color. The case of reproductive justice is no different.
Relying on the state for protection leaves women of color, often the ones most
vulnerable in communities, at the hands of politicians, policy makers and
judges who are typically not from the same background as the communities they
are supposed to be ‘protecting’. Many have expressed their frustration with
white-male-dominated spaces making decisions on behalf of women of color. The
results are those like the forced sterilization of some hundreds of Chinana and
African American women masked as ‘population control’. This ‘population control’
had women who only spoke Spanish signing legal papers consenting to
sterilization that were written completely in English without any understanding
of what the doctor had just urged them to do. White women have also had trouble
understanding the needs of women of color as the two groups (and various groups
within the term women of color) have different needs at the forefront. This is
why we see many white women advocating for legal and policy change while women
of color are focused around separate issues.
In an article written in 2015 by scholar Dorothy Roberts (who
is also a contributor to the reading!) she states how police brutality in black
communities is a direct threat to black women’s reproductive justice. She quotes
the definition of ‘reproductive justice’ from a 1994 black feminist pro-choice
conference which defines it as a “framework that includes not only a woman’s
right not to have a child, but also the right to have children and to raise
them with dignity in safe, healthy, and supportive environments.” When
activists advocate for increased policing or legal intervention in managing
crime, addiction and poverty it has a direct impact on communities of color and
their interaction with police. Black women witness the murders of their family
and children which threatens their right to build a family and/or the right to
raise children in a healthy, safe and supportive environment. For this reason, it
is important to have various, diverse groups working around reproductive rights
as each group is able to center specific issues based off of their lived
experiences. One group cannot be the voice of reproductive justice as
reproductive justice looks differently to different groups.
What are some ‘unlikely’ ally-ships between pre-existing
activist groups or social movements that can incorporate reproductive justice
into their framework?
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