Reproductive Justive in Twenty Two

Growing Strong reproductive justice in twenty twenty two

by Lia Perkins

Reproductive Justice is the right to express bodily autonomy in choosing if or when to have children. It is also about the right to a safe and comfortable environment in which to raise them. Access and choice to have an abortion is one part of reproductive justice, but it is not the only barrier for marginalised women.

Reproductive Justice is a useful framework for feminists to understand and fight against oppressive structures that use people’s bodies to marginalise them because of their race, disability, class and/or sexuality. It is to see that all people should be able to make decisions over their own bodies and lives.

The U.S.:

Today, reproductive justice is under attack by conservative governments around the world. In the United States, conservative politicians have been curbing access to contraception, including abortion for decades. In September 2021 Texas adopted a law banning abortion procedures from as early as 6 weeks into the pregnancy, where abortions are regularly performed up to 12 weeks. The US Supreme Court will debate Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organisation later this year with the potential to overturn Roe v. Wade, the landmark decision in 1973 which paved the way for abortion legalisation throughout the US. The reintroduction of these bills reflects a sustained push from religious and right wing lobby groups and the rise of the far right in the U.S.

Australia:

Although the right to access an abortion in Australia is less politically debated than in the US, it is still under attack. For example, abortion was only decriminalised in NSW in 2019 and in South Australia las year. Although the majority of Australians are pro-choice, key political figures such as NSW MP Dominic Perrotet strive to push legislation that makes abortion more difficult to access. Australia has also followed the trend of universities becoming sites of contestation over reproductive justice, with organisations such as LifeChoice explicitly building on campuses to recruit students to anti-choice talking points. These points are coupled with more general rightwing ideas that centre “traditional family values” and conservative politics. Reproductive justice is particularly difficult to access in Australia for First Nations people. Reproductive justice includes the ability to participate in cultural practises around birthing, so the proposed destruction of trees sacred to the Djab Wurrung people of the Kulin nation, was an attack on the ability of Indigenous people to access birthing. The SisterSong definition of reproductive justice includes the right to ‘parent the children we have in safe and sustainable communities’. Community organisation Grandmothers Against Removals (GMAR) identifies 17,979 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children living in out-of-home care. GMAR was founded to ‘address the systemic issues embedded in child removals and to advocate for more cultural and community based care’. Until

First Nations women and families in Australia are afforded the right to give birth according to cultural practices and raise their children on sovereign land, reproductive justice has not been achieved.

COVID-19:

COVID-19 has increased systemic disadvantage among people at the sidelines of the health system, especially in the reproductive sphere. As the public health system fails to support thousands of people, those living in rural and regional areas have less access to abortion and other essential healthcare. COVID-19 most significantly affects the safety and wellbeing of disabled and immuno-compromised people. The government was slow to respond to the Omicron variant and disabled people urgently in need of Rapid Antigen Tests were only supported by the Disability Justice Network, a grassroots mutual aid organisation. Reproductive marginalisation of disabled people has continued for decades. For example, the forced sterilisation of people with a disability is legal in Australia, despite the UN determining it ‘an act of violence, a form of social control and a form of torture’.