The Definition of Reproductive Justice
SisterSong defines Reproductive Justice as the human right to maintain personal bodily autonomy, have children, not have children, and parent the children we have in safe and sustainable communities. ACCESS fundamentally believes and adheres to this definition of Reproductive Justice, and through this Framework, intends to clearly define how ACCESS works to make Reproductive Justice a reality.
The ACCESS RJ Mission
At our core, ACCESS REPRODUCTIVE JUSTICE is committed to working towards social, political, and economic justice through our direct service, community outreach, and policy advocacy work. Any programming created or facilitated by the organization is towards the goal of ensuring dignity, bodily autonomy and self-determination for Black, Indigenous and people of color (BIPOC), (im)migrant, queer, transgender, and gender non-binary, disabled, young people and low-income communities, and especially those living at the intersections of these various identities.
We recognize that this requires individual, organizational, community, institutional, and societal change and we welcome the discomfort that comes with challenging such systems. In fact, we often aim to begin our work by questioning whether we can and should challenge such systems in new and forward thinking ways. We commit to remaining open to all that is possible today, tomorrow, as well as in a distant future and we commit to pausing to consider if we can do things differently than they have already been done.
Recognize Individuals as Full, Holistic Human Beings
ACCESS recognizes that individuals do not present, in any space, as “just” a pregnant person, or “just” a person of color or “just” any one identity, but instead, as full, holistic human beings. Thus, ACCESS approaches our work as such. We know that someone’s racial or ethnic identity cannot and should not be disassociated from their gender, their sexual orientation, their socioeconomic status, their documentation status, their family of origin, their community, and so much more.
Conversely, we know that the socio-political systems and structures that currently facilitate our culture, historically oppress those for whom we consider the ACCESS community, and therefore, we must work against these various systems of oppression to bring about Reproductive Justice.
The Goals of ACCESS RJ
To work towards a reality centered in Reproductive Justice, ACCESS aims to:
- Center the experiences of the below communities, especially those living at the margins of these various identities in our direct services, community outreach, and policy advocacy programming:
- Black people
- Indigenous communities
- People of color
- (Im)migrant communities of all documentation statuses
- Queer, Transgender and Gender Non-Binary folks
- Disabled people
- Low-income communities
- As an abortion fund and a Reproductive Justice organization, lift up both that abortion is a Reproductive Justice issue that requires that all individuals have the dignity and resources to make their own decisions about if, when, and how they start their families, and also that Reproductive Justice is not solely about abortion, but in fact, the many issues that impact an individual’s ability to have self-determination around building (or not building) family, from LGBTQ liberation, to immigrant justice, to economic justice, to youth rights, and beyond.
- Focus our attention on those who seek our direct services most and where we have always focused on building and supporting community: Californians. This does not mean we are not aware of or contributing to the broader Reproductive Justice movement regionally or nationally, but that our priority is within our state of origin, where we have committed our resources and capacity to for many decades. ACCESS’ ability to respond to requests for support from folks traveling to California, or in neighboring states, for care varies from month to month, however, we commit to consistently supporting those who face barriers in their home state who seek refuge and support in California or nearby as frequently as possible.
- Commit our resources to the development of the community, building and supporting the leadership necessary to bring Reproductive Justice to fruition.
- Build the social, political and economic power of our community through direct service, engagement, and outreach.
- Advance a policy advocacy agenda rooted in moving us into new systems centered on dignity and autonomy rather than oppression that wins individual, organizational, community, institutional and societal changes for our community.
- Work in and with community, individual and organizational, to integrate Reproductive Justice into direct service, community outreach, and policy advocacy.
We do all of this knowing that we must center all of our values, most especially anti-Racism, because racism, white supremacy, anti-Blackness, anti-Indigenity, ableism, queer and trans phobia, and so many other oppressive practices are at the root of all of our systems. We commit to doing our work to bring about Reproductive Justice boldly and bravely expecting and welcoming discomfort, understanding this to be a necessary part of the process which will lead to an expansion of thinking, organizational and societal growth, and freedom and autonomy for all.