Credit: Edson Chilundo on Flickr, under Creative Commons
(WOMENSENEWS)– My radical feminist group states that our goal is reproductive sovereignty.
I totally support that goal, but how are we going to achieve it? Sovereignty means being independent or autonomous. A nation is sovereign if it can enforce laws within its boundaries with no interference.
Our reproductive anatomy can only be sovereign if we have no interference from the state.
The Roe v. Wade decision in 1973 did not give women in the United States sovereignty over our bodies. Yes, it gave us the right to an abortion, but the procedure is still heavily regulated and many state legislatures are working to erode access. Regulations in Texas, for example, have resulted in the closure of a large number of abortion clinics.
Females in the U.S. do not have sovereignty over their birthing experiences either, even though they can choose their birth setting and birth attendants. As with abortion, however, the states’ regulation of birth attendants limits the actual amount of choice available. States’ licensing laws determine the qualifications and sharply restrict midwives’ scope of practice. Women are able to choose a home birth attended by a midwife in only a handful of states, and even in those states, midwives work in a hostile environment where ordinary birth complications can result in prosecution, loss of license and legal penalties. In addition, imprisoned pregnant women often are shackled during birth.
Given that the courts and state legislatures often restrict abortion and birthing options, isn’t this a good time to change the playing field from electoral politics to grassroots feminist organizing?
It is feasible for a woman, working and learning with other females, to become more in charge of her own health. It’s already been done.
In the late l960s and early 1970s, a health movement arose. In Boston, female college students researched existing medical literature and made the basic information available to all. “Women’s Nights” were held at the local free clinic. Self-funded rape crisis centers and shelters for battered women were started.
See the article here:
It's Time to Reclaim Our Reproductive Sovereignty
