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Opinion | To Be Pro-Choice, You Must Have the Privilege of Having Choices [1]
['Monica Simpson']
Date: 2022-04-11
These are complex problems, and they will require complex solutions. As such, we can’t afford to focus on our sexual and reproductive lives with a single-issue lens. We must consider the ways in which all social justice issues intersect and affect the way we are able to make decisions about our bodies and the creation of our futures.
One hurdle toward achieving that goal is that for decades, white-led reproductive rights organizations were the default, and the experiences of those leaders are not the same as the experiences of people of color. That’s why reproductive justice organizations — groups like SisterSong, focused on grass-roots organizing campaigns, promoting policy change and providing education for our communities — have been calling for changes in leadership and representation. We have made progress on that front, but we need to build on it.
What we need is a culture shift.
My experiences navigating my sexual identity and reproductive health inspired me to become an activist and organizer, but for many years the organizations I was part of were led by white men.
It wasn’t until much later that I learned about a group of Black women who called themselves Women of African Descent for Reproductive Justice. In 1994 it took out an ad in The Washington Post and Roll Call to proclaim to the world that our reproductive freedom cannot be boiled down to a single issue. When I was introduced to the reproductive justice movement, it was the first time I was exposed to Black women leading and owning their stories and bodies, and that was powerful.
Their work was the road map that grounded my own.
In my state, Georgia, Black women-led organizations have led the charge in pushing back against unjust laws that disproportionately affect our communities and challenge our autonomy, from voting rights to abortion access. People of color don’t have the privilege of focusing on only one issue — everything is connected. Reproductive justice has always been more than just being “pro-choice.” To be pro-choice you must have the privilege of having choices.
The fight for reproductive justice must be led by those most affected. To build collective power, we need a deeper investment in B.I.P.O.C.-led organizations. We also need to normalize sharing our abortion stories, whether we had one or held the hand of someone at a clinic. And we need to work to elect, appoint and confirm officials who are aligned with reproductive justice values. It’s not enough to just show up when an anti-abortion law reaches the Supreme Court — we need to bring that energy to our local school boards, state legislatures, attorneys general offices and every election.
It is our duty to hold everyone accountable at every level, every day, because our lives depend on it. And because Roe might soon be gone. But we can imagine a better world, one in which we have not just the minimum, but stand at the mountaintop: true reproductive justice.
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[1] Url:
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/11/opinion/abortion-black-brown-women.html
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