reproductive rights

the rights of human beings to sex education, contraception, safe childbirth, abortion, STI care, health care, and childcare are currently at risk in the U.S. Access to some reproductive rights for many people is limited or nonexistent because of financial, legal, religious, or other restraints. For example, the federal Hyde Amendment bans Medicaid coverage of abortion, making it unaffordable for low-income people, provisions in state and federal law known as "refusal clauses" or "conscience clauses" allow many health care providers (including pharmacists) to deny access to contraceptives, abortion or tubal ligations at will, and many states are passing more, and more restrictive, laws on abortion. Abortion needs to be included with other reproductive rights if women and birthing people are to retain ownership of their bodies. Note the important distinction between "reproductive rights" and "reproductive justice." SisterSong defines the latter as “the human right to maintain personal bodily autonomy, have children, not have children, and parent the children we have in safe and sustainable communities.” Coined in 1994 by a group of Black women, the term was a response to a felt inability of the mainstream movement to address and advocate for the needs of Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC), trans people, and others historically marginalized. Rooted in a social justice and intersectional framework, the reproductive justice movement centers on those most marginalized, emphasizes that there is no choice without access, and addresses intersecting oppressions like race, class, gender identity, immigration status, disability, location and more that impact a person's experience. Because reproductive justice advocates created a separate movement, be careful to distinguish between the two groups when writing about reproductive activism. See also abortion, fetus, pro-choice, pro-life, reproductive justice.