An Overview of the Reproductive Justice Movement
This fact sheet was compiled by NARAL Pro-Choice Texas from information available on Asian Communities for Reproductive Justice's website, www.reproductivejustice.org. What is Reproductive Justice? Reproductive Justice is the complete physical, mental, spiritual, political, economic, and social well-being of women and girls, and will be achieved when women and girls have the economic, social and political power and resources to make healthy decisions about our bodies, sexuality and reproduction for ourselves, our families and our communities in all areas of our lives. Reproductive Justice Strategies Ø Advance a concrete agenda that wins real individual, community, institutional and societal changes for poor women and girls of color Ø Integrate grassroots issues and constituencies that are multi-racial, multigenerational and multi-class into the national policy arena Ø Build a network of allied social justice and human rights organizations who integrate a reproductive justice analysis and agenda into their work. Ø Support the leadership and power of the most excluded groups of women and girls within a culturally relevant context that recognizes and addresses the multi-layered impact of oppression on their lives. Ø Develop the leadership and build the social, political and economic power of low-income women of color and their communities so they can survive and thrive History of the Movement In November 1994, a Black women’s caucus first coined the term “reproductive justice,” naming themselves Women of African Descent for Reproductive Justice at the Illinois Pro-Choice Alliance Conference. According to Loretta Ross, one of the caucus participants, “We were dissatisfied with the pro-choice language, feeling that it did not adequately encompass our twinned goals: To protect the right to have – and to not have – children. Nor did the language of choice accurately portray the many barriers African American women faced when trying to make reproductive decisions … We sought a way to partner reproductive rights to social justice and came up with the term ‘reproductive justice’.” Challenges and Limitations of Traditional “Reproductive Rights” Framework
Ø The core strategy of calling for women to exercise their voting rights and contact their elected officials assumes a level of knowledge, access to elected officials, and belief in the effectiveness of the political system that women who are marginalized by immigration status, age, class, and race often do not have. Ø The emphasis on individual choice obscures the social context in which individuals make choices. It also discounts state-regulated control of sexuality, gender, reproduction, populations, and individual bodies. To Learn More
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