After a Supreme Court leak, it appears that Roe v Wade is likely going to be overturned. Pro-choice experts point out that more Black women are going to die as a result of this decision, and pro-life counterparts argue this means an end to “Black genocide.”
But BOTH sides are overlooking some crucial information.
Black women aren’t new to the reproductive rights game. During enslavement, white men’s greed made it necessary for Black women to control their pregnancies.
Conversely, the “Back to Africa” movement encouraged Black women to reject birth control and have as many children as possible. But what does any of this have to do with Roe v Wade?
Black women most frequently live in states where they are at the mercy of politicians hostile to reproductive rights. Over the past decade, these states have made it increasingly difficult for Black women to receive access to quality healthcare.
But there is hope.
Community organizations run by Black women have already created informal networks that help Black women overcome the barriers to healthcare that white politicians have already put into place. Regardless of what the Supreme Court decides, however, one thing remains true.
Black women have always fought for control of their bodies. Now it’s even more crucial that we confront the discrimination in, and unequal access to, health care that endangers us in the first place.