Good Morning, y’all.
Today is the 48th Anniversary of the United States Supreme Court Decision Roe v. Wade, the decision that found that child-bearing people have a right to abortion, overturning a hundred years of laws born of racism and sexism.
The two factors that are most determinative to a woman’s ability to provide for herself (backed by data) are (1) personal bodily autonomy over reproductive decisions, and (2) access to education. As to personal bodily autonomy, 1 in 4 women in the US will have an abortion by the age of 45. Everyone loves someone who had an abortion.
But being pro-choice isn’t enough. Broaden your lens to encompass and include the right to access and have a safe abortion in a Reproductive Justice lens, which is an intersectional approach encompassing race, class, and gender politics focusing on access. Reproductive Justice is the human right to maintain personal bodily autonomy, have children, not have children, and parent the children we have in safe and sustainable communities. Not only do you have the human right to make these decisions, but access to abortion, contraception, sex education, physicians, STI prevention and care, alternative birth options, adequate prenatal and pregnancy care, domestic violence assistance, adequate wages to support families, safe homes, and so much more. (Explanation via SisterSong)
Consider what lack of access to an abortion can do. Published in 2020, the Turnaway Study followed a thousand women over ten years – women who were able to have an abortion and women who were denied an abortion. The study found serious consequences of being denied a wanted abortion on women’s health and well-being. Women denied a wanted abortion who have to carry an unwanted pregnancy to term have four times greater odds of living below the Federal Poverty Level (FPL). In addition, women denied abortion are:
· More likely to experience serious complications from the end of pregnancy including eclampsia and death
· More likely to stay tethered to abusive partners
· More likely to suffer anxiety and loss of self-esteem in the short term after being denied abortion
· Less likely to have aspirational life plans for the coming year
The study also finds that being denied abortion has serious implications for the children born of unwanted pregnancy, as well as for the existing children in the family. (Note: the study describes women, but remember that people can be pregnant.)
Since Roe v. Wade, forced birthers (because that’s what they are – people who believe in forcing a pregnant person to give birth) have pushed laws to eliminate access to abortion in various ways, including TRAP (Targeted Regulation of Abortion Providers) laws, which are laws intended or resulting in restricting the availability or practice that are arbitrary or difficult to implement, do not improve safety, and are aimed at closing abortion clinics. These efforts result in legal challenges that forced birthers hope will make it to the Supreme Court and that the Court will overturn Roe and its progeny cases. Extremist groups target physicians and clinics, and more and more physicians who can provide abortions are less likely to do it.
What can you do? Continue to support – via funding or writing or marching or whatever your lane is – organizations working on Reproductive Justice. And for today, consider a donation to the National Network of Abortion Funds, which provides money to pregnant people seeking access to abortion, including the cost of the procedure, travel to the clinic, lost wages, etc. Many jurisdictions require a waiting period, multiple visits, and clinics are often located far away, requiring time off, travel, hotel, and the cost of the procedure. The National Network – and its partner funds at the local level – seeks to eliminate financial and logistical barriers to abortion access.
And the next time it comes up, work like hell to eliminate the Hyde Amendment. We need federal funding of abortions.
Mug: National Network of Abortion Funds
For more information:
Sister Song – Women of Color Reproductive Justice Collective
Reproductive Justice: An Introduction by Loretta J. Ross and Rickie Solinger
The Turnaway Study: Ten Years, a Thousand Women and the Consequences of Having – or Being Denied – an Abortion by Diana Green Foster, PhD
When Abortion Was a Crime: Women, Medicine, and Law in the United States, 1867-1973 by Leslie J. Reagan
Rewire News Group is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit media organization dedicated to reshaping the national dialogue on all things sex by making it more inclusive, positive, and centered on justice. Its mission is to inspire you to own your relationship to sex, abortion, parenthood, and power.