Reproductive Justice Forum on TFW

Today in TFW, we begin a series of articles about reproductive justice, one of the most urgent issues of our time. Indeed, few issues so viscerally embody the profound conservative attacks on women and girls. From assaults on abortion rights to “personhood” initiatives to diminished funding for sexual assault services, women’s bodies are the fleshy terrain on/in which contemporary politics are played out, typically by men in power. Yet, while all women are at risk from attacks on sexual and reproductive freedom, the most vulnerable women—young, poor, women of color—bear the brunt of repression. The articles in this mini-symposium challenge a liberal rights-based approach, which suggests that securing some (privileged) women’s rights will lead to rights for all.  On the contrary, we suggest that until the rights and freedoms of our most vulnerable girls and women are secured, then we have not achieved true reproductive and sexual justice.