Reproductive justice and human rights

Within the United States, there is a growing reproductive justice movement, which recognizes that women cannot have reproductive choice without addressing the underlying social context in which choices are made, including socioeconomic disadvantage, racial discrimination, and inequalities in wealth and power. While the reproductive justice movement is a grassroots women of color movement in the United States, the human rights movement is an international rights movement that Americans have historically viewed as a being about the rights of men and women outside of our borders. Yet, the reproductive justice movement has roots in the international human rights movement, and the two movements share many common principles, including a recognition of the right to health and health care access and a recognition that governments have an affirmative obligation to address and reform policies and programs that have a disparate impact on women and communities of color. As movements premised on enabling women to realize their rights to reproductive health and autonomy, both reproductive justice and human rights have the potential to transform the way that we look at reproductive health issues in the United States.

This presentation will provide an overview of the reproductive justice and human rights frameworks, analyzing the similarities and potential tensions between the two frames. It will also apply the frameworks to current challenges in reproductive health, including abortion access and funding and the racial disparities in reproductive health access and outcomes.