Our fight for better care for Black birthing people and our fight to keep abortion legal and accessible is about the same thing: Black women having control of our bodies and our lives.
Policies should center health and well-being not exacerbate harm.
One of two states at the center of the national conversation on abortion access, Mississippi is home to a formidable group of organizers. Gathering ahead of the upcoming Supreme Court oral arguments in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, the Mississippi Abortion Access Coalition provided some critical grounding for what's at stake in the state and across the country. Â
Speaking at the D.C. march, SisterSong’s Executive Director Monica Simpson said that fighting for abortion access was a fight against white supremacy. "As Black women and people of color, our bodily autonomy is essential to our freedom," Simpson said.Â
The Supreme Court's vote to keep in place Texas' restrictive abortion law that effectively undermines the historic Roe v. Wade decision is also a gut punch to the Black women who have long been demanding reproductive justice.
Improving access to and the quality of sexual and reproductive health services and supports has the power to increase bodily autonomy for all people, including those whose autonomy has historically been restricted, particularly Black and Indigenous people. Yet as with COVID-19, access to these services and supports depends heavily on where a person lives, how much money they make, and the extent to which discrimination impedes their ability to act on their reproductive decisions.
Justice for Breonna doesn’t only mean accountability in the eyes of the law. She deserved the right to create and raise the family she wanted without having to be afraid of police violence. Breonna deserved reproductive justice.
The billboard was unveiled as part of a week of action leading up to Taylor's death anniversary on March 13. Community members will be able to interact with the billboard as it travels through Louisville throughout the weekend.
The violence is rooted in the desire to violate and dominate the Black women's bodies, often perceived as a threat. It is anchored in the term "adultifcation" and systemic racism, where Black girls are often perceived to be older and more mature than they actually are.
