Reproductive Justice Is An LGBTQ Issue
What is Reproductive Justice?
In 1994, a group of Black women coined the term “reproductive justice” in order to broaden the scope of the reproductive rights and health movements and to center and uplift marginalized communities. According to SisterSong, reproductive justice is a framework that centers the human right to bodily autonomy, including the right to have children, not have children, and parent the children we have in safe and healthy environments. As a framework, reproductive justice recognizes that rights without access are meaningless, and moves beyond a mainstream civil-rights basis to include access to things such as healthcare, family planning options, adequate prenatal and pregnancy care, comprehensive and LGBTQ+-inclusive sex education, jobs that pay a living wage, and freedom from violence and discrimination.
Why Is Reproductive Justice an LGBTQ+ Issue?
Reproductive justice is just as important for LGBTQ+ people as for cisgender, heterosexual people. LGBTQ+ people can and do get pregnant, use birth control, have abortions, carry pregnancies, and become parents. We need and deserve access to reproductive and sexual health care, family planning and development resources, and HIV care.
What We Believe
- We believe that all people have a right to bodily autonomy and integrity, and deserve access to the ability to have children, not have children, and parent children in healthy and safe environments.