The New Abortion Ban Is White Supremacy in Action
by Kristen Ashworth (she/her)
On September 1st, 2021 a ban on abortions after 6 weeks took effect in Texas when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5-4 to not block the ban. This, like all abortion bans, was an act of white supremacy.
Before I tackle why abortion bans are racist, I want to take us back in history to explore the white supremacist roots of the anti-abortion movement. Prior to the Civil War, the majority of reproductive health care was performed by Black and Indigenous women. During the war, the enslavement of Black folks provided a safety net in terms of livelihood for white men. After chattel slavery ended, white men in obstetrics (childbirth) saw Black female midwives as a threat to the profession. This led to anti-midwife sentiment and lobbying campaigns to ban midwifery, which included abortion care. Not only did this turn reproductive health care for birthing people into a cis-male industry entrenched in sexism; it also pushed qualified Black women out of the medical field. (Ya know, because white men could never let Black women hold the power and receive the credit they so rightfully deserve, for fear of the world finding out that race and gender are constructs created to uphold white male dominance.) During this time, Black folks were also barred from American hospitals, as practitioners and patients, which contributes to the maternal death rate for Black women — to this day, the death rate is 4 times higher for Black women than that for white women. Giving birth presents as a legitimate and potential death sentence for Black folks.
So, how are abortion bans adding to this legacy of white supremacy and why is this particular ban unique in its efforts? I’m so glad you asked.
Transportation, time, and money are already enormous burdens, and abortion bans only exasperate that. This is especially true for poor and working-class Black and Brown folks. When the government makes it so that you have to travel out of state to access abortion care, it then becomes nearly impossible to access a safe abortion if you don’t have a car, can’t take time off work, and/or don’t have money for bus fare, gas, or a place to stay.
A piece of this ban that we have yet to see legislated before is the $10,000 bounty any ol’ person can put on someone that they suspect is getting an abortion, and on anyone that helps that person get an abortion — and “help” goes beyond the abortion practitioner; if you’re an Uber driver taking someone to a clinic to get an abortion, you could also be fined. The addition of financial penalties for those seeking an abortion and the involvement of law enforcement in this process makes this ban even more racist than the average ban. This type of policing instills a sense of fear in everyone and creates a larger divide between the “good” folks and the “bad” folks. Yet again, white supremacy.
It’s no surprise then that the primary sponsors of this bill also sponsored bills that contribute to voter suppression, a sports ban for trans students, and a bill that increased funding for anti-immigration initiatives, all issues also rooted in white supremacy.
And so here we are again. Another incident of this country’s never-ending racist policies and actions that disproportionately harm Black and Brown folks. I’m not going to sit here and play the “how did this happen?” card, or the “I’m shocked” card. This, unfortunately, is not surprising. Instead, I very seriously implore you to get angry about this. To use your anger to speak out against it, to vote against it, and to use your money (if you have it) to help folks in Texas and across the country, access abortion, even with this ban in place.
