What is Reproductive Justice? Understanding why it's not a black or white issue.

Reproductive Justice is the human right to control our sexuality, our gender, our work, and our reproduction. This term was coined by the Black Women's Caucus in 1994.

Three Primary Principles:

• The right not to have children.

• The right to have children.

• The right to parent children in a safe and healthy environment.

All people should have the power and resources to make healthy decisions about their bodies, sexuality, and reproduction.

When we are looking Reproductive Justice Work we can't separate the three primary principles. We have to look at Reproductive Justice from a holistic lens. We have to understand the three principles are interconnected. For example if there's a state restrictive abortion laws that impacts providers-those providers are OB-GYNs, family medicine physician, nurse practitioners, certified nurse-midwives, and physician assistants. If there's a shortage in these specific providers that can create a maternal care desert. If there is a shortage of providers then we run into access and distance being a barrier. Do you see how these issues feed into each other? A lot of organizations focus on "the right not have children", that's only one piece of the puzzle.