What you need to know about Reproductive Justice. By Edem Barbara Ntumy

Edem Barbara Ntumy is the Director of the Reproductive Justice Initiative, a long time activist and campaigner. In this short paper for International Women's Day she invites us to think about what reproductive justice means for our visions for liberation.

This current moment has seen a regression in women's reproductive rights. With the appeal of Roe vs Wade in the USA, recent incidents of criminalising women for abortions, and the overwhelming evidence of maternal mortality which sees Black women in the UK, 4x more likely to die in childbirth than white women. The fight for reproductive rights is also an internationalist issue. We have been overwhelmed with news of the suffering of our Palestinian sisters, who are forced to endure continuous imperialist violence and the imminent threat of a genocidal war. It is as such, pertinent to return to radical visions of liberation for women and birthing people; of which reproductive justice is a fundamental praxis.

Reproductive justice is a radical feminist framework that was developed by activists and scholars in the USA as an intervention into the International Conference on Population and Development in Cairo in 1994. They defined it 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.

The framework’s intention is to go beyond the narrow confines of reproductive rights, a principle enshrined in law, to recognising that the mainstream women’s movement at the time and sadly in recent times “could not defend the needs of women of color and other marginalized women and trans people.” In 1997, SisterSong Women of Color Reproductive Justice Collective was formed by 16 organisations of women of colour from four mini-communities (Native American, African American, Latina, and Asian American).

Here in Britain, our reproductive justice movement began with the Organisation for Women of Asian and African Descent (OWAAD), founded in the late 1970’s and disbanded by the mid 1980’s. Much like what we now call the global reproductive justice movement, OWAAD was a converging of Black and Asian women in Britain, many of whom were involved in anti-colonial, anti-imperialist and anti-racist movements, but noticed that issues that impacted women were not a priority in those movements. OWAAD, however short lived, campaigned on issues including immigration and deportation; domestic violence; exclusion of children from school; industrial action by black women; policing and defense policies; and health and reproductive rights. They highlighted that reproductive health is inextricably linked to a broader political, social, economic, and racial context.

Race has and continues to be a key factor in shaping access to reproductive healthcare, family planning, and the overall reproductive experiences of individuals and communities. Some of the contemporary issues surrounding reproductive health and race are linked to historical injustices that have shaped the experiences of individuals and communities who aren’t White. One of the most glaring examples is the history of forced sterilisation. In the United States, during the early 20th century, eugenics programs led to the sterilisation of thousands of African Americans, Native Americans, Latin and Asian individuals without their consent, perpetuating the myth of "genetic inferiority". These practices continued well into the 1970s, disproportionately affecting Black communities.

Another critical historical context is the legacy of slavery, which included the forced reproductive exploitation of Black women. Enslaved Black women were often subjected to sexual violence, coerced into reproduction, and denied any control over their own reproductive decisions. This history of reproductive injustice continues to have enduring effects on Black communities today.

While significant progress has been made in securing reproductive rights for all individuals, disparities persist in access to reproductive healthcare, family planning, maternal and infant health outcomes. The disparities in reproductive health - and in fact overall health - cuts across several communities, not only across racial lines. When it comes to maternal health, the UK continues to grapple with disparities in outcomes. Black and other racial minorities, as well as other marginalised groups, experience disproportionately high rates of maternal mortality and morbidity.

Donna Ockenden, independent midwife, led the Ockenden review into maternity care at Shrewsbury and Telford NHS Trust, over two decades. The review found repeated errors in care that led to injury to either mothers or their babies. “She found that there was a culture at the Shrewsbury and Telford Trust to keep caesarean section rates low. In some cases, earlier recourse to a caesarean delivery would have avoided death and injury.” This example requires us to understand how power and ideological beliefs in health care settings also contribute to poor outcomes for women. The power held by institutions and health care providers reflects the wider culture of violence many who seek reproductive care face. By recognising the intersections of race, class and power we are better able to hold institutions to account and make improvement in overall maternal health.

There are many organisations doing incredible work on the many the issues outlined above, however many community organisations and charities are trapped in the cycle of meeting funding agendas, competing with each other for said funding and courting media attention to highlight systemic issues, which means that there is very little room for working collaboratively. 

This is the context within which Reproductive Justice Initiative exists, intervening into the sector with an approach that connects race, class, gender, sexuality, disability, economy, politics and its impact on our reproductive lives. 

The sexual and reproductive health sector has experienced a decimation to funding and inconsistent policies over the last decade;in that time inequalities have persisted and accessibility has been severely affected. In response to this many organisations have bought into a mindset of scarcity and competition, viewing each other as antagonists rather than comrades in the struggle for a liberated future. In order to reverse this trend for the better the sexual and reproductive sector has to take a more radical approach in not only calling out these systemic failures but working with a broad section of communities and groups, because in the words of Audre Lorde, “there is no such thing as a single-issue struggle because we do not live single-issue lives.” Reproductive justice offers a vision that challenges capitalist patriarchy and understands that it is only with anti-imperialism, anti-racism and anti-oppression that we can truly create the future we all deserve.