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Compulsory Sterilization
•A method of “controlling ‘undesirable’ populations"²⁰
•Racism, ableism, classism, fueled by white supremacy
•That demeaned the value of certain people’s ability to reproduce productive members of society
•Long-lasting effects in the Native American community – in the 1960s and 1970s, one out of four Native American women was forcibly sterilized https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87C513-G_Xo&feature=related(http://www.timetoast.com)² end - 02:00 -
Planned Parenthood⁴²
•Mission to distribute contraceptives and information about women’s reproductive health
•Valuable resources such as STD testing and counseling; abortion services remain under scrutiny
•When PP was established, did all women have access to care and information?
•Sanger’s motives and prejudices – was her work intersectional?
•How to make motions towards an all-encompassing, intersectional journey towards reproductive justice? -
Buck v. Bell (decided May 2, 1927)²¹
•Carrie Buck was admitted into a state-run mental institution for an inherited condition
•A law in Virginia “allowed for the sexual sterilization of inmates of institutions to promote the ‘health of the patient and the welfare of society’”⁷
•Justice Holmes: to save the nation from “‘being swamped with incompetence...Three generations of imbeciles are enough’”⁷
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZAgWivCuVhE(http://www.timetoast.com)¹⁸ -
Contraceptive Trials in Puerto Rico⁴⁴
•Professors John Rock and Gregory Pincus tested effects of hormonal birth control pill
•“Conducting experiments on mentally ill patients [in Massachusetts] for years” before going to “poor neighborhoods in Puerto Rico”²⁷
•Privilege as educated men to gain the trust of the women
•“‘The ability to test on these women’s bodies seemed like these territories are an extension of [them]’”²⁷ – detrimental effects
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tShnkBmoe3Y(http://www.timetoast.com)²³ -
Griswold v. Connecticut (decided June 7, 1965)²²
•Estelle Griswold (Executive Director of Planned Parenthood League of CT) and Medical Director gave instruction and info on birth control to married couples
•A CT law “criminalized the provision of counseling and other medical treatment to married persons for purposes of preventing conception”¹⁷
•New constitutional right: “the right to privacy in marital relations”¹⁷
•Which groups do not have privilege of access to info on birth control? Location and socioeconomic standing are barriers -
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Title X Family Planning Program
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MyWViEWZsQI(http://www.timetoast.com)²⁹
•In 2016 Title X provided “nearly 700,000 Pap tests; over 4 million STI tests (including HIV tests); and nearly 1 million women with breast exams”²⁶
•Vital way many Americans get access to reproductive healthcare
•Providing women with essential information to take control over their reproductive health
•Eliminating the ability to access care is an act of violence -
Eisenstadt v. Baird (decided March 22, 1972)⁸
•William Baird gave out contraceptive to a woman at Boston University lecture
•Court ruled: “‘it is the right of the individual, married or single, to be free from unwarranted governmental intrusion into matters so fundamentally affecting a person as the decision whether to bear or beget a child’”¹⁴
•Case distinguished the act of sex from marriage and the family unit
•Measures such as Title X and Affordable Care Act bridge gap between disadvantaged groups and healthcare -
Roe v. Wade (decided January 22, 1973)³⁶
•Texas law criminalized “abortions except to save the pregnant woman’s life”³¹
•The verdict – “a woman’s right to an abortion fell within the right to privacy,”³¹ which was recognized in the Griswold v. Connecticut case in 1965
•Altered abortion laws of 46 states
•Debate of life vs. choice
•Abortion is only part of the battle for reproductive justice – Who has access to the procedure? Who has been continuously marginalized?
https://vimeo.com/117339413 (http://www.timetoast.com)³² -
The Hyde Amendment⁵
•Blocked federal funding for abortion, few narrow exceptions: when pregnancy results from incest/rape or if continuing pregnancy threatens woman’s life
•Dangerous for “low-income women, women of color, young people, and immigrants” – they “disproportionately rely on Medicaid for their health care coverage”²⁵
•All women should have the right to make choices; the amendment is an infringement on reproductive freedom -
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Global Gag Rule
•Prevent US federal funding to organizations that provide info on abortion
•Intent “to target abortion providers"³⁹
•Result is dangerous “for the health and lives of poor women and their families in ways that had nothing to do with abortion”³⁹
•Developing countries rely on reproductive services from the US: family planning, HIV services, maternal health care, etc.
•Women worldwide are in danger due to inadequate resources
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJ4y1hOwhpY (http://www.timetoast.com)¹³ -
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SisterSong Women of Color Reproductive Justice Collective
•Reproductive Justice = Reproductive Rights + Social Justice
•Examine systems of power – fueled by “gendered, sexualized, and racialized acts of dominance”³³
•“Society will not be free until "most vulnerable people are able to access the resources and full human rights to live self-determined lives without fear, discrimination, or retaliation”³³ https://soundcloud.com/makingcontact/loretta-ross-on-trust-black-women-making-contact-extra²³ (http://www.timetoast.com) -
Women on Waves⁶
•Founded by Rebecca Gomperts
•“Aims to prevent unsafe abortions and empower women to exercise their human rights to physical and mental autonomy," provide essential “information, training, [and] workshops” about contraceptives, and “safe and legal abortion services outside territorial waters in countries where abortion is illegal”⁴⁵
•Location is a barrier when seeking reproductive health care
https://vimeo.com/106489346 (http://www.timetoast.com)¹² -
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act¹⁹
•Created to make health insurance more widely available
•Counseling and “FDA-approved contraceptive methods”¹ included in the benefits
•Rules for employers which provide coverage, depending on if the employer is religiously affiliated – employee may be paying out of pocket for birth control services
•Impending on rights of women to receive essential health care is an act of discrimination; danger to women who have limited access reproductive health care -
Women's March⁴³
•Cities nationwide – protest against the inauguration of a president who is openly opposed to women’s rights & reclaim their reproductive rights during a time of uncertainty
•Nancy Northup, President & CEO of the Center for Reproductive Rights: “We will resist any attempt to turn back the clock and take away our hard-won rights"¹⁰
•White feminists historically excluded women of color, poor women, disabled women & LGBTQ+ community
•Activism must be intersectional to solve the systemic injustices -
Alejandra Pablos¹⁵
•Human-rights activist jailed by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) during a check-in at Tucson, Arizona
•She works as a “field coordinator for the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health”³⁸
•She is known for her social justice work and is an activist for immigrant rights
•Voices like hers that advocate for equal opportunities and rights cannot be ignored
•“‘I need you to fight for me...as I’m fighting inside, you please fight outside’”³⁸
