2008 Woodie Awards
Demanding more than choice
A social-justice framework for the reproductive rights movement
Haley Swenson
Issue date: 4/19/07 Section: News/Features
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In the 34 years since the Supreme Court's historic Roe v. Wade decision which guarantees a woman's right to an abortion, the concept of reproductive rights in the mainstream United States feminist movement has become almost synonymous with "the right to choose." But during that time, countless feminists, primarily led by women of color, have been challenging such a narrow notion of reproductive rights and trying to push feminism away from its liberal concentration on individual choice and toward a discussion of the many social and economic barriers to reproductive health.
Earlier this month, I saw first hand the emerging trend toward a justice-based framework for reproductive rights when I attended Hampshire College's annual conference on reproductive rights, where this year's theme was "From Abortion Rights to Social Justice." Though activists and scholars of all ages and all backgrounds were welcome at the conference, the attendees, which totaled just over 1,000, were primarily college-age or recent college graduates, and the entire conference was directed toward the formation of the next generation of reproductive rights activists.
The goals of the movement are perhaps the same as what any activists from the previous generation would argue they have always been: the acquisition of all rights necessary for women to decide when, how, how often, and under what circumstances to give birth or not give birth. But what the new movement forces us to do is to recognize that even if women are given the legal rights to make these choices, they often lack the education or the resources to actually be free enough to access such options. The 1973 Supreme Court's decision to affirm a right to abortion, for example, does little for poor, working, rural women who, even if they could afford an abortion, live too far away from the nearest provider to access that right. The traditional reproductive rights movement has focused on individual choice while failing to recognize the needs of those not privileged enough to be able to consider making those choices.
Earlier this month, I saw first hand the emerging trend toward a justice-based framework for reproductive rights when I attended Hampshire College's annual conference on reproductive rights, where this year's theme was "From Abortion Rights to Social Justice." Though activists and scholars of all ages and all backgrounds were welcome at the conference, the attendees, which totaled just over 1,000, were primarily college-age or recent college graduates, and the entire conference was directed toward the formation of the next generation of reproductive rights activists.
The goals of the movement are perhaps the same as what any activists from the previous generation would argue they have always been: the acquisition of all rights necessary for women to decide when, how, how often, and under what circumstances to give birth or not give birth. But what the new movement forces us to do is to recognize that even if women are given the legal rights to make these choices, they often lack the education or the resources to actually be free enough to access such options. The 1973 Supreme Court's decision to affirm a right to abortion, for example, does little for poor, working, rural women who, even if they could afford an abortion, live too far away from the nearest provider to access that right. The traditional reproductive rights movement has focused on individual choice while failing to recognize the needs of those not privileged enough to be able to consider making those choices.
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