Reproductive Justice: A Reading List
A collage of the cover of “African-American Women Are for Reproductive Freedom: We Remember” (1994). Courtesy of the National Council of Negro Women.
By Black Women Radicals
A reading list on Reproductive Justice.
In 1994, a group of Black women formed the group, “Women of African Descent for Reproductive Justice” at a meeting in Chicago, Illinois, where they coined the term “Reproductive Justice” .
According to SisterSong: Women of Color Reproductive Justice Collective, Reproductive Justice is:
“...the human right to maintain personal bodily autonomy, have children, not have children, and parent the children we have in safe and sustainable communities.”
This reading list offers a brief primer on Reproductive Justice and includes articles, essays, reports, interviews, videos, and more that pertain to Reproductive Justice, rights, and access.
Reading List
Defining Reproductive Justice
What is Reproductive Justice?: How Women of Color Activists Are Redefining the Pro- Choice Paradigm by Kimala Price
Articles/Essays/Reports/Interviews
Understanding Reproductive Justice: Transforming the Pro-Choice Movement by Loretta J. Ross
Black women turn to doulas as maternal mortality crisis deepens by Katie Kindelan
Racism, Birth Control, and Reproductive Rights by Angela Davis
Honoring A Reproductive Justice Pioneer: An Interview with Loretta Ross by Jaimee A. Swift
Mapping the Margins: Intersectionality, Identity Politics, and Violence against Women of Color by Kimberlé Crenshaw
Queering reproductive access: reproductive justice in assisted reproductive technologies by Michelle W. Tam
Brief: If/When/How: Reproductive Justice in the Prison System (Lawyering for Reproductive Justice)
Abortion Care Is Not Just for Cis Women by Sachiko Ragosta
Trans and Nonbinary People Get Abortions Too by Caitlin Van Horn
What Sexual Health Looks Like For These Black Disabled Women by Paula Apkan
For Trans Men Seeking Reproductive Health Care, ‘There Are Barriers Every Step of the Way’ by Tris Mamone
Transgender Healthcare and Reproductive Justice by the National Organization Women
African-American women and abortion: a neglected history by Loretta J. Ross
The Color of Choice: White Supremacy and Reproductive Justice by Loretta J. Ross
Reclaiming my body : black women and the fight for reproductive justice by Shelby Ray Pumphrey
Termites in the Master’s House: Abortion Rap and Florynce Kennedy’s Contributions to Racial and Gender Justice by Hayley Hahn
Beyond the Margins: Why Black Breastfeeding Matters by Jaimee Swift
We Cannot Leave Black Women, Trans People, and Gender Expansive People Behind: Why We Need Reproductive Justice by Karla Mendez
Race-ing Roe: Reproductive Justice, Racial Justice, and the Battle for Roe V. Wade by Melissa Murray
I’m Never Having Children—Why Does That Make You So Upset? by Erica Cerulo
Black women and the fight for abortion rights: How this brochure sparked the movement for reproductive freedom by Natelegé Whaley
Why Texas’ Abortion Snitches Will Target Black Women Most by Kali Holloway
Ensuring Access to Safe Abortion Care for Black Women by In Our Own Voice: National Black Women's Reproductive Justice Agenda
Abortion Bans Pose A Danger To All Mothers. For Black Women, They’re Especially Damaging by Stephanie Long
Reproducing Dignity: Race, Disability, and Reproductive Controls by Mary Crossley
Disability and Reproductive Justice by Samuel Bagenstos
Why I Didn’t Tell My Doctor I’m Trans Before My Abortion by Kam Burns
A Simple Human Right; The History Of Black Women And Abortion by Loretta J. Ross
Abortion and Black Women: A Brief History by Black Feminisms
Trans-Centered Reproductive Justice Factsheet by Positive Women’s Network
Decades after `Roe,' black women are still denied reproductive justice by La'Tasha D. Mayes
Expanding the Boundaries of Sexual & Reproductive Health Care by Cameron Hartofelis and Anu Manchikanti Gomez
Trust Black Women: Reproductive Justice in the United States by Sarah Hodin
Black Women Are Dying From a Lack of Access to Reproductive Health Services by La’Tasha D. Mayes
It’s Black Maternal Health Week. Let’s Talk About Abortion Access by Dr. Jamila Perritt
Transgender Sexual and Reproductive Health: Unmet Needs and Barriers to Care by The National Center for Transgender Equality
The Entire Conversation Needs To Change’: Reproductive Justice Leaders On The Fight For Abortion Access by Brea Baker
Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights of Women and Girls with Disabilities by Women Enabled International
Why Reproductive Justice Is an LGBTQ+ Rights Issue by Alex Berg
If You Really Care About Reproductive Justice, You Should Care About Transgender Rights! by Law Students for Reproductive Justice and the National Women’s Law Center
Queering Reproductive Justice: A Mini Toolkit by National LGBTQ+ Task Force
Black Trans Women Have Always Been Integral in the Fight for Women’s Rights by Ashlee Marie Preston
Reproductive Justice for Trans and Non-binary People is About More Than Language by Melz
Reproductive Justice as Intersectional Feminist Activism by Loretta J. Ross
Listen to Black Women: Do Black Feminist and Womanist Health Policy Analyses by Jameta N. Barlow and Breya M. Johnson
On This ADA Anniversary, We’re Thinking About Reproductive Health and Disability Justice by Nuria Piracha
Byllye Avery Discusses the Past and Future of Reproductive Justice with Susan Reverby
The Danger Of Being A Black Woman In Brazil by Kathleen Newman-Bremang
Voices of Feminism Oral History Project: An Interview with Byllye Avery
Black midwives carry on traditions but fight for legitimacy in Georgia by Tamar Hallerman
Meet 7 Black Midwives Working To Make Birth Better For Us by Tomi Akitunde
Birthing, Blackness, and the Body: Black Midwives and Experiential Continuities of Institutional Racism by Keisha La'Nesha Goode
Black midwifery in the United States: Past, present, and future by Alicia Suarez
The black midwives changing care for women of color – photo essay by Alice Proujansky
Nothing to Work With but Cleanliness: The Training of African American Traditional Midwives in the South by Sheena M. Morrison and Elizabeth Fee
These Black Midwives Opened A South LA Facility With The Goal Of 'Empowered' Births by Mariana Dale
The African Midwives Research Network by Kim Forss and Gaynor Maclean
On Africa’s feminist frontlines, we need accessible care practices to sustain our movements by Jessica Horn
Making Maputo Protocol a Reality through Feminist Litigation of Women’s Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights by AfricanFeminism
What It Is Like To Get An Abortion In Brazil, One Of The Most Restrictive Countries In The World by Grace Wyler
Underground Activists in Brazil Fight for Women’s Reproductive Rights by Alejandra Marks
Racial vulnerability and individual barriers for Brazilian women seeking first care following abortion by Emanuelle Freitas Goes
No Brasil, aborto vitima mais mulheres negras do que brancas by Thaiza Pauluze
Um ponto de vista feminista negro sobre o aborto by Denize de Almeida Ribeiro
Time to act—comprehensive abortion care in East Africa by Amanda Cleeve for The Lancet
Mulheres negras e indígenas são as que mais morrem ao abortar by AGÊNCIA BORI
Rowena Arshad discusses contraception and controlling poor women's bodies by British Library
Disabled Women and Reproductive Rights by Virginia Kallianes and Phyllis Rubenfeld
Black women in the UK four times more likely to die in pregnancy or childbirth by Hannah Summers
UK tackles higher maternal mortality rates for Black mothers by Reuters Staff
Black Mothers Are Five Times More Likely To Die During Childbirth. That Needs To Change by Amanda Randone
Black women hardest hit by Tennessee's maternal health, mortality crisis by Steven J. Brady, Shawn Massey and Daphne Ferguson-Young
LATIN AMERICA – Afro-descendant women in Latin America are raising their voices more and more every day by International Campaign for Women’s Right to Safe Abortion
Structural Racism and the Criminalization of Abortion in Brazil by Lívia Casseres
Afrodescendent women in Latin America and the Caribbean: Debts of equality by Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC)
Africa can and must do more to support nurses and midwives by Pauline Bakibinga
Statement on the Passing of Maria de Lourdes Silva Pimentel by the Center for Reproductive Rights
Report of the Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent on its mission to Brazil (2013)
Case of Alyne da Silva Pimentel Teixeira (“Alyne”) v. Brazil
Reproductive Rights and Race Struggle in the Decolonizing Caribbean by Nicole Bourbonnais
Fighting a Losing Battle? Defending Women's Reproductive Rights in Twenty-First Century Jamaica by Shakira Maxwell
Rejoice! Your wombs will not beget slaves!’ Marronnage as Reproductive Justice in Colonial Haiti by Crystal Eddins
Failure to prevent avoidable maternal death violates rights to life, health and non-discrimination by Human Rights Law Centre
Reproductive Justice in Action by the Barnard Center for Research on Women and The New York Women’s Foundation
Abortions are for everyone – it’s time for fully inclusive services by Annabel Sowemimo
Reproductive Journeys: Indo-Caribbean Women Challenging Gendered Norms by Tannuja Rozario
Abortion Practice in the Northeast Caribbean: “Just write down stomach pain” by Gail Pheterson and Yamila Azize
Secrets of the Bush: Abortion in Caribbean Women’s Literary Imagination by Leah Fry
Recy Taylor, Rosa Parks, and the Struggle for Racial Justice by the National Museum of African-American History and Culture
‘Belly of the Beast’ analyzes incarcerated Black women and the systematic racism of illegal sterilization by D’Shonda Brown
Belly of the Beast: California's dark history of forced sterilizations by Shilpa Jindia
The Long, Disgraceful History of American Attacks on Brown and Black Women’s Reproductive Systems by Natasha Lennard
Interview with Dr. Amy Blackstone, author of Childfree by Choice: The Movement Redefining Family & Creating a New Age of Independence by Kristen Tsetsi
This activist is a beacon of hope for reproductive justice in the South by Siobhan Neela-Stock
For Black Women, Reproductive Justice Is About More Than High-Risk Pregnancies by A. Rochaun Meadows-Fernandez
Black Reproductive Justice Episode with Marcela Howell and Dazon Dixon Diallo
Black Feminist Alchemy, Reproductive Justice and the Carceral State by Dan Berger
How We Care Matters: Reproductive Justice and the Black Maternal Health Crisis by Addisa Z. Rigaud
StopTheBans: Support Black Reproductive Justice Activists by Taylor Crumpton
Reproductive Freedoms and African-American Women by Charlotte Rutherford
Redefining Reproductive Rights in an Age of Cultural Revolution by Stephanie Flores
African-American Women and The Reproductive Rights Movement: Sterilization Abuse in Southern States by Lucie Felder
How Can the Experiences of Black Women Living With HIV Inform Equitable and Respectful Reproductive Health Care Delivery? by Faith E. Fletcher, PhD, MA, Ndidiamaka Amutah-Onukagha, PhD, MPH, Julie Attys, MPH, and Whitney S. Rice, DrPH, MPH
Vivência Negra: Black Lesbians Affective Experiences in Brazilian Gynecology by Nessette Falu
Ain't I Too a Mulher? Implications of Black Lesbians' Well-being, Self-care, and Gynecology in Brazil by Nessette Falu
Lesbicas Negras' Ethics and The Scales of Racialized Sexual Recognitions in Gynecology and Public Discourses in Salvador-Bahia by Nessette Falu
Mississippi Appendectomies: Reliving Our Pro-Eugenics Past by Jessica Pearce
The Forced Sterilization of Black Women as Reproductive Injustice by Willow S. Clouse
Books
Reproductive Justice Briefing Book: A Primer on Reproductive Justice and Social Change by Pro-Choice Public Education Project (PEP) and SisterSong Women of Color Reproductive Justice Collective
Reproductive Justice: An Introduction by Loretta J. Ross and Rickie Solinger
Undivided Rights: Women of Color Organize for Reproductive Justice by Marlene Gerber Fried, Elena Gutiérrez, Loretta Ross, and Jael Silliman
Killing the Black Body: Race, Reproduction, and the Meaning of Liberty by Dorothy Roberts
Radical Reproductive Justice: Foundations, Theory, Practice, Critique edited by Loretta J. Ross, Lynn Roberts, Erika Derkas, Whitney Peoples, and Pamela Bridgewater Toure
Women of Color and the Reproductive Rights Movement by Jennifer Nelson
Reproductive Justice: The Politics of Health Care for Native American Women by Barbara Gurr
Reproductive Rights as Human Rights: Women of Color and the Fight for Reproductive Justice by Zakiya Luna
Reproductive Injustice: Racism, Pregnancy, and Premature Birth by Dána-Ain Davis
Laboring Women: Reproduction and Gender in New World Slavery by Jennifer L. Morgan
The Doulas: Radical Care for Pregnant People by Mary Mahoney, Lauren Mitchell, with an introduction by Loretta J. Ross
Medical Bondage: Race, Gender, and the Origins of American Gynecology by Deirdre Cooper Owens
Shattered Bonds: The Color of Child Welfare by Dorothy Roberts
Policing the National Body: Race, Gender and Criminalization in the United States by Jael Silliman and Anannya Bhatacharjee
Outsourcing the Womb: Race, Class, and Gestational Surrogacy in a Global Market by France Winddance Twine
Revolutionary Mothering: Love on the Front Lines, edited by Alexis Pauline Gumbs, China Martens, and Mai’a Williams, with a preface by Loretta J. Ross
Medical Apartheid: The Dark History of Medical Experimentation on Black Americans from Colonial Times to the Present by Harriet A. Washington
The Echoing Ida Collection edited by Cynthia R. Greenlee, Kemi Alabi, and Janna A. Zinzi
Birthing Justice: Black Women, Pregnancy, and Childbirth by Alicia D. Bonaparte and Julia Chinyere Oparah
The Heart of the Race: Black women's lives in Britain by Beverley Bryan, Stella Dadzie, and Suzanne Scafe
Reproducing Race: An Ethnography of Pregnancy as a Site of Racialization by Khiara Bridges
The Movement for Reproductive Justice Empowering Women of Color through Social Activism by Patricia Zavella
We Live for the We: The Political Power of Black Motherhood by Dani McClain
The Women Who Caught The Babies: A Story of African American Midwives by Eloise Greenfield
Rise Up Singing : Black Women Writers on Motherhood by Cecelie Berry
Delivered by Midwives: African American Midwifery in the Twentieth-Century South by Jenny M. Luke
Motherhood and Choice : Uncommon Mothers, Childfree Women by Amrita Nandy
Monique and the Mango Rains: Two Years With a Midwife in Mali by Kris Holloway
Abortion Under Apartheid: Nationalism, Sexuality, and Women's Reproductive Rights in South Africa by Susanne M. Klausen
Black on Both Sides: A Racial History of Trans Identity by C. Riley Snorton
Health Equity in Brazil: Intersections of Gender, Race, and Policy by Kia Lilly Caldwell
Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights in Sub-Saharan Africa by Nana K. Poku
A Miscarriage of Justice: Women’s Reproductive Lives and the Law in Early Twentieth-Century Brazil by Cassia Roth
The Politics of Reproduction: Race, Medicine, and Fertility in the Age of Abolition by Katherine Paugh
Contested Bodies: Pregnancy, Childrearing, and Slavery in Jamaica by Sasha Turner
Caribbean Mothers: Identity and Experience in the U.K. by Tracey Reynolds
Slavery Unseen: Sex, Power, and Violence in Brazilian History by Lamonte Aidoo
Selfish, Shallow, and Self-Absorbed: Sixteen Writers on the Decision Not to Have Kids edited by Meghan Daum
Childfree by Choice: The Movement Redefining Family and Creating a New Age of Independence by Dr. Amy Blackstone
Black Reproductive Justice Policy Agenda by In Our Own Voice: National Black Women's Reproductive Justice Agenda
Syllabi/Guides/Reading Lists
Reproductive Justice Syllabi by Birthing Justice: Women of Color, Reproductive Justice and the Making of Freedom, taught by Dr. Whitney Peoples
Black Maternity by Bilphena’s Library
Birthing Reproductive Justice: 150 Years of Images and Ideas
Reproductive Justice Media Reference Guide by Forward Together
Safe Abortion Action Fund (Latin America and the Caribbean)
Poetry for Reproductive Justice by Teaching for Change
September 28th Campaign: Solidarity Letter with Defenders of Reproductive Rights in Latin American & the Caribbean by Women's Global Network for Reproductive Rights
Re-framing Reproductive Rights and Justice: A Reading List by Wear Your Voice
Reproductive Justice and Intersectionality: Suggested Reading List by The Lilith Fund for Reproductive Equity
Videos
Reproductive Justice Activist Day School 1: “The Past, Present and Future of Reproductive Justice”
Why We Fight: Voices from the Struggle for Reproductive Justice
Loretta Ross of SisterSong on "Reproductive Justice 101" Part 1
Loretta Ross of SisterSong on "Reproductive Justice 101" Part 2
Loretta Ross and Samsarah Morgan Reproductive Justice : The Whole Story
These Black midwives are building a community of support for South L.A. mothers
Ramp Your Voice: Empowering People with Disabilities by Vilissa Thompson
Opening ceremony of the Caribbean Coalition on Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights
Loretta Ross of SisterSong: Women of Color Reproductive Health Collective, gives a lecture on "Reproductive Justice 101" in Miami during June of 2008, sponsored by Women's Fund of Miami and Mi Lola.