The Fight for Reproductive Justice Isn’t Over: How These PDF Partners Prove It’s Just Beginning
In March, a leaked majority opinion draft from the Supreme Court signaled the end of the constitutional right to abortion in the United States. The majority conservative court– three justices appointed by former president Donald J. Trump in his single term in office– startled the nation by going back on their word to uphold the precedent set by the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision and the subsequent 1992 ruling in Planned Parenthood v. Casey. The June 24th decision to overturn Roe has caused a ripple effect throughout the nation as people everywhere prepare themselves for the future of abortion access and reproductive rights in the new and unprecedented post-Roe United States of America.
According to the Guttmacher Institute, a leading research body with a commitment to sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) around the globe, over half of people obtaining abortions in the United States already have children at home and almost a quarter of American women will have had an abortion by the time they are 45. While some may be surprised by these numbers, the reality is that safe abortion access and protected reproductive rights are issues important to a large section of the American public. This intimate procedure has provided life-changing (and at times, life-saving) care to millions of girls, women, and transgender/gender non-conforming (GNC) Americans over the past fifty years, care that is now increasingly difficult to come by in more than half the nation after the Supreme Court decision allowed for near-complete abortion bans in over ¼ of US states.
Confronting the post-Roe reality is a daunting task. Many people concerned with the future of abortion access and reproductive care are at a crossroads as they ask themselves “what can I be doing right now?” The past few years have seen collective action like the annual Women’s March and the Handmaid’s Tale protests popping up in major cities across the country and at the US Capitol. These well-intentioned protests, inspired by the 1985 novel by Margaret Atwood and its themes of bodily autonomy and reproductive rights, have helped fill a need to act and respond to the injustices created by the attacks on women’s healthcare in recent years.
But the new decisions by the Supreme Court have left many feeling like there is more work to be done and that these actions fall short of recognizing the reality of a country where the constitutional right to bodily autonomy no longer exists. Criticisms of these movements remind us of the way BIPOC are pushed to the margins even under conditions that will have an outsized impact on them. The efficacy and motive of the Handmaid’s protests have especially come into question as they are organized and attended in majority by white, cisgender women. With BIPOC facing the most societal upheaval in the changing legal landscape, it has become absolutely critical that their voices are uplifted and heard by anyone with a stake in the fight for abortion access.
The Peace Development Fund, a vocal supporter of safe abortion access and protected reproductive care, has a longstanding history of partnership with individuals and organizations who are attempting to address these shortcomings in the fight for bodily autonomy and reproductive justice. Over its 40-year history, the organization has given nearly 2.5 million dollars to grassroots groups doing work in the reproductive justice and abortion access movements, with $650,000 alone being distributed during the pandemic.
In addition to the funding given to community partners, the relationships formed with local activists like Susan Yanow, MSW are the cornerstone of PDF’s grassroots advocacy work. Susan serves as the spokesperson for an organization that is fiscally sponsored by PDF, SASS — Self-Managed Abortion; Safe and Supported in the USA, co-founder of Women Help Women, a board member for the ACLU of Massachusetts and the Reproductive Outreach and Education (ROE) Center, consults to the Later Abortion Initiative at Ibis Reproductive Health, and coordinates for EASE — Expanding Abortion Services in the South. Her outstanding advocacy work in reproductive justice and abortion access spaces is vital and represents the longstanding efforts of activists like her from pre to post-Roe.
Susan recently spoke at the PDF’s 40th Anniversary celebration of women in the peace and justice movements, where funds were being raised for the De Colores Rapid Response Fund (RRF) in the hope of supporting organizations doing critical work in reproductive health and abortion access during this time. The De Colores RRF provides quick, short-term grant funding to small US-based grassroots organizations providing direct care and impact in their communities. Making these funds available to community-based groups doing measurable and meaningful work at home is a critical part of PDF’s commitment to the movement.
Many reproductive justice organizations, like recent PDF grantees Tight Lipped, the Abortion Care Network, and Boston Abortion Support Collective (formerly the Boston Doula Project), started their work before the final decision to overturn Roe and target Casey and they plan to keep fighting long after these blows have been dealt. Their tireless efforts are part of a rich history of community organizing and mutual support in this country, a history that has often failed to highlight the work of underground abortion access networks, reproductive justice workers, and the countless individuals and organizations pushing back against threats to bodily autonomy everywhere. With their work becoming the new backbone of abortion access in the United States, it is more important than ever to champion and celebrate their efforts and impact.
PDF is proud to support the community-building efforts of Tight Lipped as they work to create networks of solidarity, support, and safe access to care for those experiencing chronic vulvovaginal and pelvic pain. Support for Abortion Care Network and Boston Abortion Support Collective, two organizations rallying around reproductive care and helping connect individuals to the safe abortion access they need, is a critical part of the work PDF does and of the greater defense of reproductive justice and bodily autonomy. It is an honor for the organization to be a part of this movement and the work these groups are doing.
As more Americans are looking to get involved in the fight for abortion access and reproductive justice, these organizations will become a new avenue for advocacy and serve as inspiration for new community networks and activist groups to take up the cause. Despite the threat that changes in legislation present to their advocacy, the work spearheaded by SASS, the Abortion Care Network, and many other groups fighting for these rights will go on as it has for decades and continue to provide care and support for the thousands of Americans who need it and will seek it each year, with or without Roe v. Wade.
To learn more about PDF’s decades-long involvement in the reproductive justice movement and the organizations supported by these efforts, visit our website or follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. If you enjoyed this article and would like to support the grantmaking efforts benefitting our community partners in the fight for abortion access and reproductive rights, please consider making a contribution today!
Ollie is a communications intern at PDF and a senior anthropology student at the University of Massachusetts — Amherst. They were born and raised in Central Massachusetts and previously studied Political Science and Sociology/Anthropology at Pace University NYC. Ollie started their PDF internship this summer as part of a departmental grant at UMass Amherst and is grateful for the opportunity to be supporting the organization’s peace and justice work.
Sources:
https://www.guttmacher.org/fact-sheet/induced-abortion-united-states
https://www.ourbodiesourselves.org/publications/our-bodies-ourselves-2011/contributors/susan-yanow/
