Q&A Hero

Question

JUDGMENT CALL 5 SHOULD PRO-CHOICE FEMINISTS EXPAND THEIR FOCUS BEYOND ABORTION AND TOWARD REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS?

A womans right to safe and legal abortion has been a central issue in feminism since the start of the second wavein fact, the phrase pro-choice came out of some second-wave feminists efforts to legalize abortion.

Today, many mainstream feminist organizations, including the National Organization for Women (NOW) and the Feminist Majority Foundation, advocate for abortion rights. However, not all feminists are comfortable with the focus on abortion rights or the phrase pro-choice. Not surprisingly, both the term and the focus are unwelcome to feminists who identify as pro-life.

Many feminists who are women of color also oppose to the focus and term, although for different reasons. They argue that the focus on abortion and the use of the term choice reflect the experiences of white, upper-middle-class women to the exclusion of women of color and poor women. Choice is possible only if a woman has access to abortion services, which can be expensive and unobtainable if an abortion provider is not located nearby. Similarly, feminists who are women of color point out that during the second wave, many women of color were fighting against coercive policies and practices, such as forced sterilization, that precluded some poor women and women of color from having children. Although forced sterilization is no longer practiced, women of color point to contemporary practices that continue to prohibit some women from bearing children, including welfare policies that impose family caps, a lack of access to prenatal care, expensive health insurance, and a lack of access to reproductive services in womens native languages.

As such, some women of color organizations, such as Sistersong Women of Color Reproductive Justice Collective, urge feminists to abandon the term choice as well as the focus on abortion rights and to focus instead on ensuring that all women have access to health and social services that will enable them to make real decisions about their reproductive lives. Instead of choice, they suggest feminists utilize terms such as reproductive justice, reproductive freedom, and reproductive rights. Indeed, they suggest that such terms and such a focus may even bring pro-life feminists into the fold because abortion will no longer be the central issue.

What do you think of the suggestion that feminist organizations turn their attention away from abortion rights and toward reproductive justice?

Why do you think feminist organizations have been so focused on abortion rights?

Do you think that the term choice obscures attention to issues and concerns of women who are not white and middle-class? Why or why not?

What are the possible benefits and pitfalls associated with turning away from a focus on abortion rights and toward a focus on reproductive justice?

Do you think that a turn toward reproductive justice and related terms will bring pro-life feminists into the fold? Why or why not?

References

Hayden, S. (2009). Revitalizing the debate between <life> and <choice>: The 2004 march for womens lives. Communication and Critical/Cultural Studies, 6, 111131.

Palczewski, C. H. (2010). Reproductive freedom: Transforming the discourse of choice. In Sara Hayden & D. Lynn OBrien Hallstein (Eds.), Contemplating maternity in an era of choice: Explorations into discourses of reproduction. Lanham, MD: Lexington.

Silliman, J., Fried, M. G., Ross, L., & Gutirrez, E. R. (Eds.) (2004). Undivided rights: Women of color organize for reproductive justice. Cambridge: South End Press.