Sex Education, Abortion and Pregnancy Criminalization - Shaming Legislation & Its Impact on Poor Women and Girls in the Conservative Evangelical South

Conservative Evangelically informed legislation places moral consciousness over medical fact and endangers the lives of Tennessee's most vulnerable populations. The freedom of religion only seems to avail it's promise of liberty to those with access, political and economic power - while shaming and blaming poor women and girls, who are disproportionately women and girls of color, for our reproductive health decisions, or lack thereof. Our lived experiences and stories are invisible, leaving room for interpretation that is culturally inept and potentially more harmful for the future of low income communities if access to abortion, lack of comprehensive reproductive and sexual health education and the enforcement of punitive measures on mothers struggling with prescription and/or illegal drugs are not challenged. The Reproductive Justice framework provides a necessary lens to analyze medical disparities and provides a strategy for the public health community when framing medical access, treatment, and public health policy through the application of intersectionality - using race, class, gender, sexual preference, religion, immigration status, age and more importantly featuring the lived experiences of poor women and girls as a tool in challenging public policy.