The June 2022 SCOTUS decision in Dobbs vs Jackson Women’s Health Organization (JWHO) erased a 50-year precedent of a woman’s right to choose abortion. With one swift motion, the conservative leaning Supreme Court reversed the Roe vs Wade decision of 1973 that gave individuals the right to choose an abortion.
Many states were already facing severe restrictions to abortion access, and the impact of the SCOTUS decision was felt immediately in states with trigger bans in place. The Guttmacher Institute has estimated that 25 or 26 additional states are likely to ban or significantly restrict abortion in the next year. Since 2017, the Abortion Care Network had identified 133 independent abortion clinic closures. As of November 2022, they have confirmed 42 independent clinic closures in 2022. Most of those post Dobbs. By November 2022 there were 14 states without an abortion – providing clinic.
The Abortion Care Network is the national association for independent community-based abortion care providers.
It should come as no surprise that BIPOC folks, especially Black women will bear the brunt of this decision.
Most of the Black identified population of the United States lives in the south. Most of the states with severe restrictions or bans and now actual clinic closures resulting in the absence of an abortion provider are also in the south. With those 2 realities, Black women will and are now disproportionately affected by Dobbs.
We are always the canaries in the coal mine, and this is no different. When it comes to reproductive justice and the ability to manage and control our fertility and reproductive health, we have always had to fight for justice and the right to ownership of our reproductive health.
For centuries black women have been fighting for autonomy and control over their bodies against governmental and medically sanctioned authoritarianism. The fight got harder in June of this year.
This battle for BIPOC folks to control our lives and destinies is rooted in historical and systemic racist medical policies and stereotypes that predate slavery. We have been subjected to forced birthing, forced sexual intercourse, forced sterilization, medical experimentation without consent and punitive measures and criminalization as a result of the consequences resulting from those forced actions – often unplanned and/or unwanted pregnancies.
Historically, women of color and women from low-income backgrounds were among those who were discriminated against, targeted and then coerced to use Norplant or other physician controlled methods of contraception. Without knowledge or consent, BIPOC folks were sterilized and subject to experimental treatments and medications.
And it continues. Manipulative and coercive practices that encourage physician-controlled methods of contraception may be more subtle but are none the less still practiced. As recently as December of 2020 there were racist eugenics accounts of forced hysterectomies at the Irwin County Detention Center in Ocilla, Georgia.
Sadly, black women’s reproductive statistics in the US are not that great. Black women are more than 3 times more likely to die from pregnancy or childbirth than women in any other race. Death rates for infants born to Black Americans with advanced degrees are higher than white Americans who did not graduate from high school. We also know that race trumps income status. Serena Williams, recants her story after the delivery of her daughter of not being listened to when she tried to relay her physical symptoms and a history of blood clots.
About 40% of the women who obtain abortions in the US are black and that’s not because we’re more promiscuous. We are not having any more sex than anyone else. We are, however, more apt to not have health insurance coverage and to not have contraceptive access in the heart of our communities. We are more apt to live in contraception deserts and less likely to have readily available comprehensive sex education.
These statistics however are not the result of black women not doing things correctly or being promiscuous or never using contraception. They are in part due to the historical and systemic injustices that are prevalent in health care. When we add in an earned distrust of the medical system, the truth and reality that black patients and black women especially are often just not listened to and their concerns regarding symptoms and pain not being taken seriously. These are a few of the reasons why the statistics are so grave and not positive for black women and without change will result in disparate outcomes for Black women post Dobbs.
At the Emma Goldman Clinic we are already seeing some of the consequences of the reversal of Roe vs Wade. Although abortion is still legal in Iowa, clients need to have a certification for an abortion at least 24 hours in advance. This means that clients will need to make 2 trips to the clinic for services. Because of closures in other states, primarily the south, women are having to travel farther. Wait times for appointments are longer as clinics close. This means that women are going to need reliable transportation, additional childcare and more time off work or school.
With the abortion desert that is being created by the Dobbs decision, there will also be a contraception desert. The abortion providing clinics are often the community clinics that are offering a wide range of reproductive health care. In addition to abortion and contraception, most are also providing STI screening and treatment, pap smears, HIV testing and gender affirming care. When these clinics close, these services that could have positive impacts on the health of Black women, are no longer available in the community and region.
The right to determine when to have children, how many to have and who to have them with is a human right based on the concept of bodily autonomy.
Despite how you might feel about the decision to have an abortion, one thing most people of color can agree on is that if we’re going to have children we want to be able to raise them in environments that are sustainable and healthy.(Environmental justice) We deserve to have and raise our children in communities that are safe and thriving.(Economic justice) BIPOC folks have the right to not have their sexuality and reproduction policed by the government or politicians. (Political and Policing justice) All of these incorporate Reproductive Justice.
It’s time for us to understand the intersections of environmental, economic, political and policing justice and how it relates to Reproductive Justice. In all of those areas we know that there are disparities for people of color.
With the reversal of Roe and a return to limited and potentially illegal abortion, Black women may find themselves in a pre 1973 position. There are many women of color led organizations that are working to reverse the statistics and improve the reproductive lives of Black women and their families. SisterSong and Black Mammas Matter Alliance are just a couple.
Francine Spencer Thompson is the Executor Director of the Emma Goldman Clinic in Iowa City, Iowa. She is one of a handful of Black women that are providing leadership around the US in abortion providing clinics.
Earthen Sojourner 