Getting The Word Out

Loretta Ross of SisterSong

Before I began this project I had never even heard the term “reproductive justice” which is surprising because in high I did write a paper on the pro-choice movement.  To me, this goes to show how oppressed these women really are and how important it is to get more of the minority women on board because it is clearly not getting the attention and recognition it deserves. What SisterSong is doing is extremely important, not just because they are fighting for women of color to be treated fairly when it comes to their reproductive rights as females, but because they have expanded into really fighting for justice for all women. The video that I had posted earlier of Loretta Ross is from one of the organizations Reproductive Justice Training Programs.  The fact that SisterSong is offering programs like this is extraordinary; I honestly believe that education is the best way to make a movement stronger.  I am guilty of being ignorant to many of the ideas and issues that we discussed in our WGGST 215 this quarter and getting the knowledge of what is really happening to some oppressed women in our country does make me want to get out and do something positive for them and the community.  It seems as if SisterSong is doing way more to educate and truly inform women of color of the risks and injustices that they are facing.  For example going back to the Smith essay during the section on pro-choice she discusses how many women are not getting informed consent at clinics in areas that are predominately colored.

Also problematic is the manner in which these contraceptives are frequently promoted in communities of color and often without informed consent (Krust and Assetoyer 1993; Masterson and Guthrie 1986; Smith 2001).7 Yet none of the mainstream pro-choice organizations have ever seriously taken a position on the issue of informed consent as part of their agenda.8 Indeed, Gloria Feldt, president of Planned Parenthood, equates opposition to Norplant and Depo-Provera as opposition to “choice” in her book The War on Choice (Feldt 2004, 34, 37). Planned Parenthood and NARAL opposed restrictions against sterilization abuse, despite the thousands of women of color who were being sterilized without their consent, because they saw such poli- cies as interfering with a woman’s “right to choose” (Nelson 2003, 144; Patchesky 1990, 8). (Smith, 130).

The lack of education and distribution of information is alarming. I know that in my high school we did have the opportunity to learn about birth control and my doctors have always been careful to make sure that I know the effects of any medication they give to me but unfortunately not everyone are getting those privileges. This goes back to how most middle class citizens are getting the proper education and information so the mainstream groups are not addressing these issues as much.  For that, I really respect the members of SisterSong and am happy to see organizations like that because although I am a white middle class citizen, I believe there should be justice for all people especially in this area of concern.