Black Women Have Been Leading The Reproductive Justice Struggle For Decades

march for reproductive justice in atlanta georgia
Briona Lamback
June 27, 2022

Non-Black feminists are starting abortion funds left and right in the wake of the Supreme Court’s recent Roe v. Wade decision. But Black reproductive justice activists and organizations have BEEN doing the work, and we don’t need them trying to reinvent the wheel!

White feminists of the 60s fought for themselves while minimizing the needs of Black women. White-led reproductive justice organizations are doing the same by sidestepping the work we’ve been doing for decades. Access Reproductive Justice has been helping Californians fund abortions for nearly thirty years.

Another organization, The National Network of Abortion Funds, is a decades-old network with more than eighty community-based organizations linking people with abortion care like funding for procedures, child care, travel money, and other logistical support.

Their blatant erasure of the Black folks leading abortion funds across the nation is harmful. Despite their good intentions, inexperienced activists may not have shared values or the experience necessary to provide care for us, especially the most marginalized of our people.

And their co-opting of the same language used by another Black-led fight, the Underground Railroad, echoes a history of whitewashing our movements.

White supremacy frequently ignores the work of our people, and abortion care is no different. We don’t need to depend on their organizations, especially regarding healthcare. We must continue creating and supporting our own organizations to build strong Black communities.

We have a quick favor to ask:

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