The views and opinions expressed in this piece are the author’s and do not necessarily represent the position of Positive Women’s Network – USA.

by: Lisa Johnson-Lett

August 10, 2022

Introduction: (Disclaimer)  The words I speak are my words reflecting the opinions and ideas of Lisa Johnson-Lett, only. 

Let’s Talk….Questions to Ponder:

How can we justify justice if we do not know what Justice is? How can we practice Reproductive Justice with silence? And how can we discuss Roe vs. Wade when we don’t know the law? Our people perish because of lack of knowledge. Lack of clarity leads to the failure of humanity. 

My name is Lisa Johnson-Lett by way of New York who resides in the (not so) “Sweet Home Alabama.” Let’s talk to gain clarity, attain factual resources, and enhance our knowledge expansion. We are Agents of Change. We are trendsetters reflecting the change we want to see in the world…. Now let’s talk!

The Reproductive Justice (RJ) Framework

This is not 1963… Reproductive Justice is a framework coined by Loretta Ross, Co-founder and National Coordinator of the Sister Song Women of Color Reproductive Justice Collective from 2005 to 2012. This framework was created by activist women of color to address how race, gender, class, ability, nationality, and sexuality intersect. Ross clearly explained RJ as, “The right to have a child, the right not to have a child, and the right to raise your children free from harm and danger.” For me, RJ is the example of what Audrey Lorde–an anchor in the feminist movement–stated, “There is no such thing as a single issue struggle because we do not live single issued lives.” RJ shows up to address every issue in our life that connects us as holistic beings.

RJ and Roe v. Wade

RJ is a reflection of hope that we can live where we want, we can eat what we want, because we own the water fountains today… Let’s not go back in time to have the water fountains stolen from us… Roe vs. wade was the landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court which ruled that the Constitution of the United States protects a pregnant woman’s liberty to choose to have an abortion without excessive government restriction. The date decided was Jan 22, 1973; now–48 years later–as a Woman, I fear the Constitution will no longer protect me, or other persons and family units. 

With Roe vs. Wade being overturned, what’s next–Brown vs. Board of Education? What is going to stop other Supreme Court decisions from being overturned? Are we going to revert to Jim Crow’s segregation, “Separate but Equal”? Was the march on Washington, the Feminist Movement, and the fight for human rights and our dignity in vain? There is a disruption in our Civil Rights happening that needs to be intercepted…

This is especially alarming with white supremacy on the rise, and more frequent shootings that endanger our Black and brown communities–such as the Buffalo and El Paso mass murders. What’s next? 

There are strategic plans set in place to destroy our communities, to keep us marginalized, oppressed, and physically, mentally, and spiritually dead. A symptom of these systems of oppression is undiagnosed and untreated HIV in our communities. We look for love and a sense of belonging, then life shows up in unintended ways, especially when we talk about unwanted–for whatever reason–child birth. 

It is the choice that is a civil right. It is the choice that is a human right. It is the choice that makes this reproductive justice. The Constitution, which once gave us liberty, is now being used to devalue our freedoms and strip away our voice. 

  1. The Supreme Court Justices have overturned Roe vs. Wade. What does this mean for Alabama’s residents now that abortion is completely banned?
  2. It is the Battle of the BANS–and I’m not talking about the annual marching band parade at Legion Field either. This escalation of battles over abortion in most states is a strategic plan for power and control over the lives of Black and brown communities.
  3. The most restrictive ban within the nation is in the state of Oklahoma, passed merely weeks before the Supreme Court made the decision to overturn Roe vs. Wade, in which Oklahoma approved a total ban on abortions, banning abortions at conception. This Bill goes further than the HeartBeat bill passed in Texas. This new bill is not just targeting abortion, but it is actually targeting birth control. The Oklahoma Abortion Bill will ban the procedure the moment the state defines fertilization.
  4. Alabama has historically modeled other similar state laws that have passed which may rely on citizens to report and enforce them. 
  5. These injustices on our bodies will have a ripple effect–not just for women, girls, and their families but for service providers such as CVS, Walgreens, Walmart, mom and pop stores, pharmacies, and health care professionals will not be able to write or fill a prescription for a legitimate medical procedure for fear they might be prosecuted and have their licenses revoked.

Lets think:

  • What about purchase and authorization of use for Plan B in the state of Alabama?
  • What about Alabama hospitals providing emergency contraceptives?
  • What will happen to Medicaid and other programs for low income people that provide free birth control at our area Alabama Health Departments (ADPH)?
  • What will happen to Planned Parenthood?
  • What about In Vitro Fertilization (IVF)? Could a person potentially be prosecuted for not using all the fertilized eggs created in the IVF process?
  • There are bills specifically addressing the termination of embryos in a person’s body that don’t address the same termination in a lab setting.

The decision to overturn Roe v. Wade was made by a majority male justices, in total 6 men. The ratio is 5 Caucasian men to 1 Black man. These excessive laws governing our bodies are ridiculous! Men are governing us and taking away our freedom to choose whether to have a family or not! This ruling took away our right to be free and safe from harm. 

These laws pose the most imminent threat to our families, impacting the lives of Black, Indigenous people of Color (BIPOC) disproportionately. These BANS are the most extreme efforts to undo our fundamental rights…

As Alabamians we need to know that other fundamental rights, including the right to contraception and marriage equality, may be up for future discussion. These potential bans of our human rights are all a reproductive justice issue. 

Women and Girls

I recently read a report that girls are experiencing puberty as early as the age of 6. Child molestation, incest, and rape are taboo topics that need to be openly discussed in order to be addressed. 

With Roe vs. Wade getting overturned our little girls are more vulnerable by not being able to obtain abortion and other healthcare services, also leading to an increase in STD and STI transmission–including HIV. The bottom line is these anti-abortion laws increase mortality and HIV rates.

  1. Alabama has the highest pregnancy mortality rates in Black women in the nation.
  2. People will go to extreme measures in desperate times to do what they feel needs to be done to fit their unique needs and present circumstances. We will go to any length to find the resources we need, by any means necessary. This includes underground black market sales or trades, making people also more vulnerable to scams, sex trafficking, kidnapping, and exposure to HIV. 
  3. Black market healthcare services are obviously unregulated, so people who are rendering services in the black market culture will not be held accountable because they are not certified and have no contract or receipt of purchase which means they are not liable. The women seeking these services, however, will be accountable under the law.
  4. People who want their pregnancies terminated will suffer or die, from black market/back alley abortions due to unsanitary conditions, and so many other reasons having to do with receiving healthcare services from unqualified people. 

Voting

When it comes to voting districts, the separation of Black people is by one block, a highway, or a railroad track. From red-zoning and gerrymandering to gentrification–Black people and people of color do not have the same opportunities as our Caucasian counterparts. When it comes to voting there are religious barriers that may go unnoticed or overlooked, that contribute to poor voter turn-out. These religious barriers may be one reason why Black voters are underrepresented at the polls. We need to talk about Critical Race Theory and African-American History, including America’s first sin, and learn to connect the dots. The systems of oppression we see today were already a strategic foundation that continue to be developed daily to keep Black and brown communities from gaining political and economic power. 

There are numerous religious beliefs which prevent members of our community from voting. Oftentimes we don’t observe the religious perspective when it comes to voting. We have to state facts and personalize stories; when we can add our faces to an issue, it adds more value to what we are displaying. We have to talk about the intertwining intersections and the taboo topics that make people uncomfortable because of personal and vicarious trauma. We need to talk about the race conspiracy known as the “great replacement theory,” where white supremacists fear a plot designed to undermine and take away their political power by being replaced by a majority of people of color. We need to talk openly about Dylann Roof and his White Supremacist Manifesto, but also about harmful pundits like Tucker Carson who validate white supremacist ideals and stoke fear of Black and brown communities. 

Our Black and brown communities are suffering–from mass murders, police brutality, and privatization of prisons where Black men are disproportionately incarcerated. We suffer higher prevalence rates of HIV in Black and brown communities. We experience voter suppression due to limited access to transportation, lack of literacy skills, lack of economic opportunity, and other barriers such as not being able to obtain the required documentation to get a government issued ID.  

Conclusion

Just like antiviral treatment sustains the lives of people living with HIV when we take our medication at the right time and the right way, we have to vote at the right time and the right way. How can we decrease voter suppression to enhance viral suppression? We have to vote even when it’s not popular… and campaign creatively to make a difference and change mindsets where it isn’t always popular to vote. Most often, those who vote, vote primarily every 4 years during the Presidential electoral year. But that is not enough! We have to vote in local, state, and district-wide elections where we can make a greater difference. We have to vote for our local mayors, school and transit boards, and all the systems that intersect. 

How can I take my life saving medication with food if I live in a food desert? How can I be in compliance with scheduled appointments when I do not have access to transportation? If my medication is to be stored at room temperature but I have no room in which to store it, how effective will it be? If I live in housing that is uninhabitable and filled with mold, how will that affect my already compromised immune system? I have to vote people into office who believe that we are like fabric, multi woven, made of many intersecting parts. I have to vote to put people into office who care about people living with HIV, who will promote that housing is healthcare, and utilize their power to make policies that will reflect the Reproductive Justice framework.