Reproductive justice goes hand in hand with securing better healthcare for people of color | Opinion

Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a 15-week abortion ban into law in Florida last week. Oklahoma recently made it a felony to perform an abortion. More than half the states in America now have some type of abortion ban. These sanctions will create a chilling effect that will reduce the health, well-being and quality of life of women in our country — and more so for women of color and low-income people.

As a participant in YWCA’s Stand Against Racism Challenge, I am pleased that this week’s theme is reproductive justice — which is more than simply reproductive rights.

Reproductive rights are important and focus on assuring the legal ability to make decisions about reproduction. Reproductive justice goes further and concentrates on allowing people to control their own bodies, make choices about their healthcare — including whether to become a parent — and how to do so with dignity.

It seeks to dismantle barriers that hinder access to healthcare and elevate marginalized communities’ needs that often are overlooked and minimized compared to other groups of people. Inherent in reproductive justice is fighting against societal and medical racism, as well as transphobia, demanding comprehensive sex education, ensuring fair labor, wage and employment practices, and much more.

Central to reproductive justice is seeing a whole person, not just a patient, a condition or a diagnosis. Using a person-centered model and a reproductive-justice framework of providing healthcare, patients would be able to speak openly and honestly with their healthcare providers and care team to find solutions that work for them as a person. It would take into consideration their housing, safety, economic status and more.

Now, in too many situations, a patient who goes into a clinic saying they are uncomfortable taking hormonal birth control might be judged, ridiculed or looked down upon. By leading through reproductive justice, clinicians would compassionately find solutions with — not for — patients.

This ultimately will improve health outcomes and adherence to care plans, which is particularly important for those undergoing treatment for sexually transmitted infections, HIV and other conditions.

We should think of reproductive justice as an ongoing practice uplifting human rights rather than an objective with an endpoint. It is imperative that in this practice we center the Black and Indigenous voices who created this movement, rather than whitewashing it.

It is not simply a semantic difference, but a reframe away from a white-feminism mindset.

We cannot, and must not, live in a world where governmental entities mandate our destiny nor the autonomy we have over our bodies and certainly not the decisions our healthcare providers help us make.

Access to healthcare services, including reproductive care, is a crucial element of racial justice. Denying those services becomes a form of racial discrimination. As a healthcare worker and the head of the Miami-Dade County Commission for Women, I see firsthand the need to advocate for the rights of Black, Latina and Indigenous people.

Systemic racism is real in our community. As laws are overturned and our constitutional rights are put in jeopardy, these groups will continue to experience oppression, while more privileged groups with access to power and wealth can find loopholes and continue to enjoy freedom and access.

By advocating for reproductive justice, we advocate for fewer children in foster care, greater access to healthcare — including birth control and pregnancy prevention — less burden on social services, higher employment rates, less domestic violence and more.

Banning abortions is not the answer to reducing abortion rates. Improving public support systems and investing in people is a much more effective approach. We need to address poverty. We need to increase access to safe and effective contraception. We need to stop domestic violence. We need to address the Black maternal health crisis. We need to work with elected officials to ensure the legislation they pass is research-based and community-backed.

During the Stand Against Racism Challenge, let’s take this opportunity to learn more about this critical topic.

Reproductive justice is the ability for all people to have the social, political and economic power and resources to make healthy decisions about their gender, bodies, sexuality and families for themselves and their communities.

That is justice I can get behind. I hope you will too, South Florida.

Monica Skoko Rodriguez is a former Planned Parenthood nurse and holds a master’s degree in public health from Johns Hopkins University. She is currently pursuing her Doctorate in Nursing Practice from Duke University. She is the executive director of the Miami-Dade County Commission for Women and a board member of Ruth’s List Miami.

This story was originally published April 21, 2022 at 1:46 PM.