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Empowering Women's Reproductive Choices: A Call to Action

Non Violent Resistance to Protect and Expand Reproductive Freedoms

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What are Reproductive Rights? Here is what the dictionary says: the rights of women as individuals to control and make decisions relating to reproduction and childbearing, especially with regard to contraception and abortion.

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The evolution of reproductive rights has been shaped by various historical factors. Economic disparities have highlighted the need for accessible healthcare. Health crises, such as the HIV/AIDS epidemic, underscored the importance of comprehensive reproductive care. Education has empowered women with knowledge about their bodies and rights. Political movements and leadership, particularly women's leadership, have driven policy changes. Historical events like the women's suffrage movement have laid the groundwork for contemporary reproductive rights advocacy.

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Throughout the course of the last 176 years of the Women’s Right Movement, multiple generations of women have worked to enact social and legal changes necessary for women to achieve full civil rights in America. From the Seneca Falls Convention to Roe v. Wade, women have come together to affect these changes through lobbying, public speaking, and nonviolent resistance. “Over the past seven generations, dramatic social and legal changes have been accomplished that are now so accepted that they go unnoticed by people whose lives they have utterly changed. Many people who have lived through the recent decades of this process have come to accept blithely what has transpired. And younger people, for the most part, can hardly believe life was ever otherwise. They take the changes completely in stride, as how life has always been.” (https://nationalwomenshistoryalliance.org/history-of-the-womens-rights-movement/)

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The U.S. Constitution and its judicial interpretations have significantly influenced reproductive rights. Landmark cases such as Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey has shaped access to abortion and contraceptives. However, ongoing legal battles and recent rulings highlight the precarious nature of these rights. On June 24, 2022, the Supreme Court ruled in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization — a case involving a challenge to a Mississippi ban on abortion at 15 weeks of pregnancy. The ruling overturned Roe — ending the federal constitutional right to abortion in the United States. (https://www.plannedparenthoodaction.org/issues/abortion/roe-v-wade) Reproductive and contraceptive rights are fundamental to women's personal autonomy. Safeguarding these rights is essential for creating a fair and just society.

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The issue of reproductive rights has been as is an economic one as well. In Reproductive Rights and Women’s Economic Empowerment, Kehinde Ajayi says “But often missing from this discussion is a recognition that reproductive rights are entwined with women’s economic empowerment. Pregnancy and motherhood are two of the most consequential factors associated with gender gaps in economic outcomes. In the quest for poverty eradication, resilience, and global prosperity, we cannot afford to forget that a world in which men and women have equal economic opportunities would be a world in which we can achieve our greatest productive potential” (https://www.cgdev.org/blog/reproductive-rights-and-womens-economic-empowerment)

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It is once again time to affect changes through lobbying, public speaking, and nonviolent resistance. According to American political scientist and professor Erica Chenowith, we can empower women’s reproductive choice and rights through multiple methods of nonviolent resistance and non cooperation methods. “...movements are more successful when they adopt multiple methods of nonviolent resistance beyond symbolic protests alone” (https://www.hks.harvard.edu/faculty-research/policy-topics/fairness-justice/roe-v-wade-has-been-overturned-what-does-mean).

With hard work from both women and men, there is a path to protecting and expanding reproductive freedoms.

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Support Legal Advocacy: When laws move backwards, the Center for Reproductive Rights fights forward. The Center is using every possible legal and advocacy tool to block harmful abortion bans and restrictions and establish new legal protections for reproductive autonomy.  The Center for Reproductive Rights is the only global legal advocacy organization dedicated to advancing reproductive rights (https://reproductiverights.org/get-involved-forward-fight/). Your support can help challenge discriminatory laws and establish legal precedents that ensure women's autonomy.

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Educate and Strengthen: Nonviolent resistance can also include education and strengthening of services, If all women wanting to avoid a pregnancy were to use modern contraceptives and all pregnant women and their newborns were to receive care at the standards recommended by the World Health Organization, the impacts would be dramatic: Unintended pregnancies would drop by 68%, Unsafe abortions would drop by 72%,Maternal deaths would drop by 62% (https://www.guttmacher.org/report/adding-it-up-investing-in-sexual-reproductive-health-2019). Knowledge is power, and together we can create a well-informed and united front.

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Pressure Corporations and Institutions: Use your consumer power to influence policies. Boycott companies that support restrictive measures and engage in shareholder activism. Economic pressure can lead to significant changes. Some companies have been proactive on their own. According to a WilmerHale blog, companies are responding in a myriad of ways to the US Supreme Court’s ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization (Dobbs), including by expanding healthcare travel benefits to reduce barriers to accessing care in areas where abortion is restricted; limiting data collection and storing practices given anticipated subpoenas from state law enforcement agencies; and issuing public statements confirming their commitment to protecting reproductive rights (https://www.wilmerhale.com/en/insights/blogs/esg-epicenter/20221003-shareholder-focus-on-reproductive-rights-post-dobbs) .

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Engage in Digital Activism: Leverage the power of social media and online platforms to raise awareness and mobilize global support. Share information, sign digital petitions, and participate in online campaigns to amplify the message. You can even download a Social Media Toolkit from now.org.

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Practice Strategic Non-Cooperation: Join non-cooperation movements like strikes and boycotts against discriminatory services and unjust laws. Collective action can disrupt oppressive structures and demonstrate the strength of unified, peaceful resistance. “ …if the recent wave of conservatives mobilizing on “critical race theory” at local school boards has taught advocates anything, it’s that a few loud voices at the local level can change the tide on policies that affect tens of thousands of people. Advocates in left-leaning cities would be wise to draw inspiration from this method, if not the message, and prepare to loudly protect and expand reproductive rights (https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2022/05/red-state-abortion-access-post-roe.html).

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The struggle for reproductive rights requires a multifaceted approach, encompassing legal advocacy, education, economic pressure, digital activism, and strategic non-cooperation. By understanding the diverse contributions of women and the historical and legal contexts, we can better strategize to protect and expand reproductive freedoms. Empowering women’s reproductive choices is essential for creating a fair and just society, and it requires the collective efforts of committed citizens.

Empower. Educate. Act. Together, we make a difference.