Reproductive justice movement broadens our interconnectedness

2024 marks the 30th anniversary of Reproductive Justice, an intersectional, movement-building approach to reproductive rights and social justice.

Inspired by global feminist organizing, in June 1994, 12 Black women developed a framework grounded in human rights, demanding that the mainstream reproductive rights movement and the Clinton Administration center the lives and experiences of Black women and communities.

This framework ignited a movement and changed the course of history.

As a young Black feminist, I was introduced to reproductive justice in college through the work of Loretta J. Ross, one of the 12 founding mothers. Through her, I learned how the reproductive justice movement has made significant contributions to the fight for Black liberation but this history has often been left out of Black history conversations.

Reproductive justice affirms our human right to live healthy lives with access to the necessary physical, mental, political, economic, social and sexual resources for the well-being of all people.

Further, reproductive justice connects the right to abortion to the larger fight for social justice, utilizing three core tenets: the human right to have a child, the human right to not have a child, and the human right to parent and raise families in thriving communities.

Dismantle all forces of oppression

For Black communities, the decision to maintain or terminate a pregnancy has always been shaped by structural barriers. Reproductive and sexual health care is interwoven into a larger web of oppression, tied to the history of colonialism and chattel slavery.

Black communities have been systematically denied access to basic needs, such as housing, employment, clean water, and healthcare. This denial of human rights fuels reproductive oppression.

The reproductive justice movement has sought to dismantle this. Organizers have fought against forced sterilization and sounded the alarm on toxic waste sites in Black communities. They have also secured housing wins for Black mothers and workplace accommodations for pregnant workers.

Further, the reproductive justice movement has broadened the interconnectedness of our struggles, locally and globally.

Removing access to abortion care is a human rights violation in the same way that Black pregnant people are disproportionately impacted by non-consensual drug testing in health care settings.

And the policing and criminalization that Black communities experience in the U.S. is connected to the militarization efforts of AFRICOM and the genocide in Palestine.

At Healthy and Free Tennessee, we’re working to grow the movement for reproductive justice and believe that we must divest from violent systems and invest in our families and communities. We have fought drug use and pregnancy criminalization, the shackling of incarcerated pregnant people, and pushed for expanded access to doula care. And this year, we’re putting forth a bold reproductive justice policy agenda, in service to organizing, to improve the material conditions of all communities, especially Black working class communities.

We envision communities having access to the resources and services to terminate or prevent a pregnancy, and this is why we support The Fundamental Right to Reproductive Health Care Act. We envision Tennesseans being able to have a child with dignity and autonomy. This is why we’re advocating for Tenncare doula coverage (HB2225/ SB1739) sponsored by Rep. Harold Love Jr., D-nashville, and Sen. London Lamar, D-memphis, centering Black community-based doulas.

We envision communities being able to raise children in healthy and safe environments free from state-sanctioned violence, including family separation via the so-called child welfare system. This is why we’re working on legislation to eliminate classification of cannabis use during pregnancy as child abuse as a first-step in decriminalizing birth (SB2777/HB2495 sponsored by Rep. Chris Hurts, R-halls, and Sen. Janice Bowling, R-tullahoma).

As we approach the 30th anniversary of reproductive justice, let’s honor the legacy of the 12 founding mothers and their place in Black history by advancing this vision for the Tennessee that we deserve.

Briana Perry is a native Tennessean and the interim executive director at Healthy and Free Tennessee.

It affirms our human right to live healthy lives with access to the necessary physical, mental, political, economic, social and sexual resources for the well-being of all.