Fam,
SCOTUS has issued a devastating ruling that left in place Texas’ dangerous and restrictive abortion law that would ban abortions after six weeks. And just last week, SCOTUS heard oral arguments from the state of Mississippi defending its 15-week abortion ban and asking the court to overturn Roe v. Wade. We are unequivocal: Full access to comprehensive sexual and reproductive health care, including abortion care, is a necessary component of freedom for all Black people.
Denying access to safe, legal abortion is part of a long history of reproductive control that the state has enacted against Black women, girls, and TGNCI (transgender, intersex, and gender-nonconforming) people. History teaches us that the war on Black women, girls, and TGNCI folks serves larger structures of power and domination, including colonialism, chattel slavery, racial capitalism, cisheterosexism, and ableism. Black feminists have exposed how this war has been promoted and justified through persistent narratives framing Black people as inherently inhuman. Anti-choice narratives rely not only on patriarchy but also on racism to do their work.
The full weight of our criminal legal system is being leveraged already against those who are finding ways to take abortion into their own hands. We know Black people are targets. We can’t look away as the most violent machinery of the state begins to aim its weapons at Black women and TGNCI people.
Our Vision for Black Lives calls for full access to comprehensive sexual and reproductive health care and the elimination of discriminatory barriers to health care for all people. Overturning Roe would set back the already limited access Black communities have to quality, affordable, and culturally competent reproductive and maternal health care—as well as overall medical care.
There is a long history of support for abortion access and activism within the Black community, from Shirley Chisholm and Florynce Kennedy to modern-day racial-justice leaders on the frontlines of this issue. SisterSong, Black Feminist Future, and New Voices for Reproductive Justice are some of the incredible organizations continuing this legacy and leading the work today to combat racist anti-choice narratives and efforts to limit sexual and reproductive health care and Black freedom. To support those in need of an abortion who are struggling with access, donate to the National Network of Abortion Funds.
Abortion care is health care, and it is absolutely essential to a thriving future for Black people. We will not give up on our fight for that future.
In solidarity,
Movement for Black Lives
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