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Supreme Court Guts Abortion Rights,
The Black Immigrant Perspective
Last week, the US Supreme Court ruled that abortion is no longer a constitutional right, gutting Roe V Wade, the 1973 landmark ruling which protected the right to abortion. The justices were ruling on Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, a challenge to a 2018 Mississippi law that banned abortions after the 15th week of pregnancy.
While abortion is still legal in many states, it is clear that there will be an even more drastic decrease in access to reproductive rights around the US - a decrease that will critically impact Black immigrants, particularly those who can give birth. As we have seen these past few years, policies restricting or entirely banning abortion have swept the country.
What does this decision mean for Black people in the US?
Reproductive autonomy must be accessible to every individual and accessing reproductive rights must be decriminalized. Historically, Black people within the U.S., have been denied the right to determine what happens to our bodies as well as the right to control our reproductive options by governmental and state-sanctioned actors.
The increased restrictions and bans of abortion not only decrease our community's access to body autonomy and healthcare, but they also lead to increased criminalization of Black people who are already disproportionately policed, jailed, and - in the case of Black immigrants - deported. For migrants and refugees already surveilled by the state, accessing abortion will lead to their criminalization as surveillance tools get more sophisticated.
A recent decision of the US Supreme Court that affirmed a Texas abortion law was one of many that have steadily chipped away at abortion rights. This law which went into effect in September of 2021 demonstrated the obstacles to accessing medical care and incentivized surveillance and vigilante behavior by those opposed to abortion.
Institutions, both private and public, and the government routinely use surveillance as a tool to reinforce racism. Health care workers operate as agents of the state and aid in the criminalization of Black and immigrant patients. This is especially true when self-managed abortion is involved, as in the recent case of Lizelle Herrera in a Texas border town.
Again, abortion is still legal in many states. For states where abortion is currently not legal, there are ever-expanding resources to provide support, but we must collectively show up. While the news is devastating, there are many people around the country who have been preparing for this day. We got us.
What You Can Do:
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Here is a list of local abortion clinics and funds that you can support.
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Look at your state laws to see ways in which access to abortion is either prohibited or restricted and join local campaigns to protect abortion for all.
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Join a campaign in your city or state to protect and expand access to safe abortion.
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