Black women leaders demand Reproductive Justice at U.S. Supreme Court Rally

Statement by In Our Own Voice: National Black Women’s Reproductive Justice Agenda Vice President of Communications Racine Tucker-Hamilton

WASHINGTON — As the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, a case that may change the constitutional guarantee to legal abortion, Black women rallied outside to demand Reproductive Justice. Vice President of Communications Racine Tucker-Hamilton made the following statement when she addressed the rally:

“Mississippi’s ban on abortion after 15 weeks is unconstitutional and endangers the lives and restricts the rights of all women and pregnant people. If the high court uses this case to strike down Roe v. Wade, it will make official what’s already in practice in most counties across this country: safe, legal abortion is too often an inaccessible right — most especially for Black women and women of color. In reality, Roe is not worth the paper it’s printed on for Black women and pregnant people.

“As Black women, we know the barriers to accessing reproductive health care already cause delays in obtaining abortion care or even deny Black women access to abortion at all. Every abortion restriction disparately impacts communities of color, who already have less access to health care and suffer poor health outcomes due to racism.

“For nearly five decades under Roe, Black women have been fighting to make our right to abortion accessible. Roe is the floor — not the ceiling. And that floor is about to be pulled out from under us. We cannot settle for the court to just uphold Roe; we demand real justice – the human right to control our own bodily autonomy. We demand Reproductive Justice.

“That’s why we call on Congress to uphold the Constitution and pass laws that will protect our right to the full range of reproductive health care, including abortion and birth control. We demand an end to funding restrictions for all reproductive health care. We demand that decisions about Black women’s health be made by Black women — not by politicians, judges or a racist system that inflicts harm upon us and our families at every turn.

“As Black women, we will continue the fight to ensure that every pregnant person has the resources to make decisions about their own body, without government interference. We will not stop until Reproductive Justice is the law of the land in every state.”

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In Our Own Voice: National Black Women’s Reproductive Justice Agenda is a national Reproductive Justice organization focused on lifting up the voices of Black women at the national and regional levels in our ongoing policy fight to secure Reproductive Justice for Black women, femmes, queer, trans and gender non-conforming people, and youth. Our strategic partners include Black Women for Wellness, Black Women’s Health Imperative, New Voices for Reproductive Justice, SisterLove, Inc., SisterReach, SPARK Reproductive Justice NOW, The Afiya Center and Women With A Vision.