Introduction

The preceding chapters have presented the legal, political and discursive frameworks surrounding abortion access and activism. In this chapter, we consider to what extent the framework of choice may be superseded by reproductive justice. Reproductive justice is a concept that emerged within the US, from a group of African American women. It is interlinked with frameworks of reproductive health and rights, and is defined by three key principles:

The core recognition of the right to have children and families, along with the right not to, is critical, as is centring the needs of people and communities who have been marginalised and disempowered by systems of oppression. The Reproductive Justice Framework recognises that particular groups of women, such as indigenous women, women of colour and women in low-income groups are disproportionately affected by attempts to control their reproductive lives.* Advocates have repeatedly demonstrated, through a focus on lived experiences of women and the wider community, that racism affects the reproductive rights and health of women of colour, as too does economic status, thus affecting their reproductive freedom. Core to the framework is the argument that achieving reproductive justice entails access to material resources which enable:

The Reproductive Justice Framework is informed by a historical analysis of reproductive injustices, alongside analysis of legal, policy and technological contexts. The reproductive injustices in the US have a long history, from rape and forced pregnancy in the slavery era to the population control of Native American communities.

The history of reproductive injustice against the black community has been charted by Dorothy Roberts, Harvard Law professor, whose interest was sparked by the focus on ‘crack babies’ in the latter part of the twentieth century, and the particular attack on black mothers in this campaign.