Repro Roundup 02.28
With attacks on Black history, diversity, equity, and inclusion, and racial justice mounting at the federal government, it is of utmost importance that we all are educated about the history of Black leadership in the reproductive justice movement. In honor of Black History Month coming to a close, we want to begin our Repro Roundup this week with a brief primer on reproductive justice and highlight some movement leaders. To read more, check out our blog!
Reproductive Justice is centered around three core human rights:
The right not to have children using safe birth control, abortion, or abstinence
The right to have children under the conditions we choose
The right to parent children in safe, loving, supportive communities
According to SisterSong, the term “reproductive justice” was coined in 1994 by a group of Black women in Chicago. These leaders named themselves the Women of African Descent for Reproductive Justice, and this was the beginning of the burgeoning reproductive justice movement that began to make critical advances to formalize activism through collectives, action committees, non-profits, and alliances of mutual aid organizations.
A Few Reproductive Justice Leaders You Should Know (and REN-Recommended Reads!):
Loretta Ross is the co-founder of SisterSong, a Black women-led reproductive justice collective. She is an educator, public speaker, consultant, and community organizer for reproductive justice. Loretta serves as a faculty member at Smith College, where she instructs a course in White Supremacy, Human Rights, and Calling In.
Purchase Radical Reproductive Justice by Loretta Ross, et al
Dorothy Roberts is a sociologist and legal scholar who focuses her research and writing on bioethics, reproductive coercion and freedom, and state intervention into Black parenthood. She is the author of Killing the Black Body, a widely-acclaimed examination of the reproductive coercion of Black women throughout the 19th and 20th century.
Renee Bracey Sherman is the founder and Executive Director of We Testify, a collective of abortion storytellers who use their personal abortion and reproductive health stories as a tool to educate and activate their communities for abortion justice. Renee is responsible for popularizing the movement phrase, “everyone loves someone who had an abortion.” She also co-hosts a podcast on the history of abortion with Regina Mahone, the A-Files.
Purchase Liberating Abortion by Renee Bracey Sherman and Regina Mahone
Learn more about reproductive justice by reading the books of the leaders highlighted above, and by checking out our blog post. Take it one step further and forward this email to a friend or family member to help educate your community about reproductive justice.
On to this week’s headlines –
News from New England
→ Momnibus 2.0 Moves Forward!
Last Wednesday, the New Hampshire Senate Committee on Health and Human Services voted in executive session to advance SB 246 – a.k.a. “Momnibus 2.0” – with an ‘ought to pass’ recommendation, and placed the bill on the Consent Calendar for the next Senate session. Let us translate: this means that the Momnibus 2.0 will have a very good shot of passing the full Senate! We were proud to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with maternal health advocates from across the Granite State in support of this important legislation. Our moms took care of us – it’s time for us to take care of them.
→ HUSKY For Immigrants Public Hearing
Today, the Connecticut legislature’s Appropriations Committee is holding a public hearing on the Governor's proposed FY 26-27 budget for Human Services Agencies, which includes HUSKY, Connecticut’s Medicaid program, and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). Over the last 3 years, Connecticut worked to expand HUSKY eligibility regardless of documentation status for children up to age 15, and expanded coverage for pregnancy and postpartum care up to 12 months after birth, also regardless of immigration status. Now, we're building on this progress, and fighting to expand eligibility up to age 26. We're proud to be members of the HUSKY For Immigrants Coalition, which is leading the fight for these expansions. You can still express your support of expanding HUSKY to the Appropriations Committee! You can submit written testimony using this form. Use the following steps:
Enter your name
Select 02/28/2025 at 10:00 am
Select HB06864
Select “Submit general comments.”
→ With Telemedicine Under Attack, Brave Bay State Providers Are Undeterred
We were excited to see our friends at the Massachusetts Medication Abortion Access Project (the MAP) profiled in this article from States Newsroom, highlighting the brave telemedicine providers who are continuing to care for patients across the nation in spite of the legal threats. Because of Massachusetts’ best-in-the-nation telemedicine shield law, providers in the Bay State know that their political leaders will have their back in the face of hostile litigation. We’re grateful for the MAP, and grateful for the Massachusetts shield law! This legislative session, we will work to bolster Massachusetts’ shield law and expand provider protections in Connecticut to empower telemedicine providers.
→ New Hampshire Can Protect Abortion Access by Passing HCR 7
We were proud to testify in support of HCR 7, a resolution that would affirm abortion as basic health care, in front of the House Committee on Health, Human Services, and Elderly Affairs. Alongside our repro equity allies, we’re demanding that the Legislature recognize abortion as a critical component of health care that grants Granite Staters the freedom to determine their own futures. We expect that this bill will be voted on in the coming weeks, and expect to see SB 260 – HCR 7’s sister bill in the Senate – be scheduled for a public hearing in the near future!
→ Massachusetts Action Opportunity: Support the Common Start Agenda!
As members of the Common Start coalition, we’re excited to share an opportunity to take action for comprehensive child care and early education! Last year, we made historic advancements for access to early childhood education for Bay State parents. This year, we can expand those wins and ensure the implementation of these transformative policies. Please join Common Start in urging your State Rep. to pass an FY26 budget that makes significant progress towards the implementation of last year’s comprehensive child care legislation, by:
Increasing the number of families receiving child care financial assistance,
Increasing funding for the C3 operational grant program to support child care providers, and
Moving Massachusetts further toward child care reimbursement rates that cover the true cost of delivering high-quality care.
Urge your representative to support and advocate for these priorities by emailing them here: https://actionnetwork.org/letters/fy26-house-budget/. It takes just two minutes to send a letter to your legislator!
National Notice
→ The Abortion Legal Hotline Helps Patients Across the Nation
Our Abortion Legal Hotline – operating in both Massachusetts and Connecticut – was profiled by States Newsroom in an article concerning the various confusions that the Dobbs decision and the shifting landscape of abortion access are causing for pregnant people across the country. Our communications director Marina told States Newsroom that the Hotline has fielded calls from providers concerned about litigation, patients and helpers who want to understand their rights to access and support access to abortion care, and questions from college students seeking to understand if they can access abortion care locally even if abortion is banned in their home state. Alongside other organizations operating helplines at the national level, we are working to ensure that no one is deterred from seeking abortion care due to not understanding their legal rights and resources.
→ Supreme Court Rejects Challenge to Clinic Buffer Zones
The Supreme Court has declined to hear a challenge to Illinois’ and New Jersey’s “buffer zone” laws, which expand the power of the FACE Act to prevent anti-abortion protestors from engaging in harassment of patients within a certain distance of a clinic. These bills are critical to patient safety because they are preventative and serve as a deterrent, whereas the FACE Act creates a prosecutable offense for harassment near clinics. However, Justice Clarence Thomas derided this decision by the Court, arguing that the cases should be heard and that precedent protecting buffer zones like that of Illinois and New Jersey should be overturned.
→ GenBioPro Jumps in to Fight Mifepristone Attacks
GenBioPro, a major manufacturer of mifepristone, has named itself as a defendant in the suit against mifepristone, currently making its way through a lower court. As you may recall from last spring, the Supreme Court punted a decision on the suit against the FDA’s approval of mifepristone, which prompted more states to join the suit as it continues through lower federal courts.
Get Involved!
📍ANYWHERE! Join us for our March Abortion Access Advocates Meeting!
Abortion Access Advocates is a regional network of abortion advocates who are learning and growing together in their advocacy. As we recognize March 10th as Abortion Provider Appreciation Day, you’ll hear directly from New England providers, and take action to say “thank you” to those risking their safety to provide essential reproductive health care. Register here!
📍BOSTON! Attend Cognoscenti Presents: Menopause — A New Approach
Every woman goes through it. Every woman experiences symptoms that can last years: migraines, night sweats, brain fog, weight gain. We’re talking about – you guessed it – menopause. Yet, there has been little research on this transition in women’s lives, consensus on treatment or knowledge among women about what is happening to their bodies and minds. Join Cognoscenti, WBUR’s ideas and opinion page, for an evening exploring menopause, its symptoms and treatments, moderated by feminist, mental health advocate and author Morra Aarons-Mele. Register here.
📍ANYWHERE! Save the Date for Reproductive Equity Now’s 2025 Gala!
Reproductive Equity Now will be hosting our 2025 Gala on May 15th at the InterContinental in Boston, and we would be thrilled to have you join us! Please save the date and keep an eye out for information on tickets and sponsorship opportunities in the coming weeks.
Our Resources
Need to understand your legal rights to provide or access abortion care? Reproductive Equity Now’s Abortion Legal Hotline will help connect Massachusetts and Connecticut-based health care providers and helpers, as well as patients obtaining care in Connecticut or Massachusetts, with free legal advice and resources about abortion access. This resource is now available in Spanish.
Looking for an abortion provider in your area? Our New England Abortion Care Guide allows you to search by zip code for legitimate abortion clinics near you. It even flags dangerous and deceptive anti-abortion centers to avoid at all costs. This resource is now available in Spanish.
Want to learn more about how to combat anti-abortion centers in your community? Check out Reproductive Equity Now’s guidebook on anti-abortion centers to understand how anti-abortion centers use deceptive practices to target patients seeking abortion care, and get the tools you need to organize against them.
Thank you so much for powering this fight. We’re grateful to have you in the movement with us.
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