In the the reading Undivided Rights chapter 1 it is discussed how a women's right/choice over her body is mainly a white women dominant movement. When it comes to a topic like abortion they may have an actual choice or say about it but when it comes to a women of color there may not be a choice.
What they mean by choice is not having economic or institutional constraints to stop you from being able to do what's best for you. Women of color struggle with so many factors when it comes to abortion like resources and services, economic rights, and freedom from violence to name a few. Women of color may not have the resources to go through with a pregnancy and this may be the main reason to go through with an abortion. In this case the fact that she had to go through with an abortion was more of skewed "choice". Not only do they not have much of a choice but even if they want to be careful with contraceptives the ones available to them are dangerous. This only limits the rights and control they have over their bodies. They are left with horrible choices whether they want to be careful or whether they want to have kids. They have so many obstacles when it comes to their rights over their bodies not only because they are women but because of their race and class.
When it comes to race playing a role over reproductive rights/justice it was discussed that sterilization was a method used to keep the population down for people of color. It was an agenda pushed by many racist people who not only sterilized many women of color without their permission but they also wanted to forbid white women from receiving sterilization. It's just really crazy to think that some of the only ways women of color got more access to family planning services or contraceptive programs was through a heavy racial agenda to control the population of people "unfit" or "defective" to be parents. All women should have equal rights when it comes to making choices over their bodies. Of course the rights of women of color will look different from those in the mainstream movements for contraception and it's great that women of color are organizing to form organizations that prioritize race, ethnicity, and class because all of these intertwine. You can't just look at gender to make a difference in reproductive rights, you have to look at the bigger picture.
An article I found titled "Roe v. Wade Must Include Abortion Access for Women in Prison" that addresses the issues of women not having abortion rights if they are incarcerated. The article addresses that the women who are incarcerated have even less rights over whether they can have an abortion and even the proper resources to assist them through a pregnancy. Most of the pregnant women in jail will be stuck in a confined area designated for pregnant women but it's overflowing with too many of them without enough beds or toilets. They have less access to health care and nutrition than women outside of prison, which lessens their ability to have a healthy pregnancy that they were forced into the first place.
https://www.bitchmedia.org/article/roe-v-wade/abortion-in-prison
My question: What, if anything, is being done as far as reproductive rights for women of color in the prison system?
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