Reproductive Justice and New Jersey
This blog will focus on reproductive justice issues in the state of New Jersey, and beyond. The term reproductive justice was coined by women of color, specifically the amazing women from SisterSong. The term is meant to be an expansion of the reproductive rights paradigm which focuses on the issues of birth control and abortion rights. Reproductive Justice uses the experiences of women of color as the point of entry to discuss issues of reproductive rights and health. This shift in center more clearly puts into focus the ways that the interrelated systems of race, class, gender, and sexual orientation work to limit women's ability to gain and maintain control of their reproductive lives.
The reproductive justice framework facilitates a more nuanced discussion of issues such as access to abortion, health care, birthing, the right to reproductive health, eugenics, population control, and the many reproductive technologies that exist. I have great respect for the women who claimed the term Reproductive Justice and use it with care, especially as a white woman who has worked hard to understand the ways white privilege has affected her life and choices.
I look forward to an open dialogue about important issues in our community, and welcome comments both critical and affirming.
Posts
1. Women are still considered the "weaker sex" so generally easier prey?
ReplyDelete2. Our patriarchal religious norms tend to allow a proclivity to subjugate women and allow those attitudes.
3. Abortion is a hot button that for some reason is distorted in this country as a religious and political issue when in other places it's just a basic human right.
Here's what I'm thinking.... conservative politician (and even those a smidge to the right) have no way to please their constituencies right now - there are no resolutions on the horizon for the economy, unemployment, healthcare, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan or even the crises (crisis'?) erupting in the Middle Eastern and Muslim nations.
ReplyDeleteSo, the easy way to guarantee one's reelection is to reach for the low-hanging fruit. And, as we know, the low hanging fruit can always be found on the backs of the disenfranchised.... So, women, homosexuals, lesbians,immigrants (etc., you know who you are) need to prepare to defend their (our) rights vigilantly until the next presidential elections have concluded.
Helen Grey