Understanding the relation between Reproductive Health, Rights and Justice.

In my previous post, I expressed what Reproductive Justice means to me with the information I had and I wondered how it is different from Reproductive Health and Reproductive Rights. I have since searched in the school’s online database and came across an article titled, What is Reproductive Justice?, published in 2010, where the author shares the thoughts of many women activists of color. The following caught my attention; “The term Reproductive Justice was coined in 1994 by women of color…. As activists in the U.S., we needed an analysis to connect our domestic issues to the global struggle for women’s human rights that would call attention to our commitment to the link between women, their families, and their communities.” (Ross 2006, 6). This makes me believe that there is more to Reproductive Justice than just making decisions and being in control of our body than what I thought.   

I met a couple of representatives of the Asian Communities for Reproductive Justice (ACRJ) organization at my recent trip to Washington, D.C. I decided to view their website and this is what they believe “Reproductive Justice exists when all people have the social, political and economic power and resources to make healthy decisions about our gender, bodies, sexuality and families for ourselves and our communities”. This source gives a more broad meaning and what to expect when you have Reproductive Justice than the first one.  

Taking this two sources in consideration, it is more clear to me that as reproductive health refers to; health care services, insurance cost, language, locations then reproductive rights refers to the women’s right to have access to reproductive health. I now see how Reproductive Justice is the fight to assure that every woman is able to practice their reproductive and human rights. So why it is that woman of color are the ones facing the struggles of accessing reproductive health and practicing their reproductive rights?

 

Works Cited

Price, Kimala. "What Is Reproductive Justice?: How Women Of Color Activists Are Redefining The Pro-Choice Paradigm." Meridians: Feminism, Race, Transnationalism 10.2 (2010): 42-65. Academic Search Premier. Web. 10 Apr. 2013.