The likely loss of a federal right to abortion in the United States is horrifying. But should Roe fall, many things won’t change: even prior to this year’s stunning onslaught of bans and restrictions, abortion care wasn’t available in 85% of US counties. How have we come to lose one of the crowning achievements of the 1970s women’s liberation movement? How can we make sure that reproductive care is accessible to anyone who needs it, legal or not? And how can we win reproductive freedom and justice for all?
A collaboration between acclaimed socialist feminist magazine Lux and Verso, We Organize to Change Everything examines the fight for abortion from the 1970s to the present, bringing together the voices of clinic defenders, health care providers, and the networks of feminist activists helping pregnant people obtain care from Mississippi to Mexico. Contributors also consider the intimate connection of abortion rights to forced sterilization and structural racism, incarceration and criminalization, Indigenous people’s sovereignty, transgender rights, and the growing threat of a white supremacist far right. Looking outside of the US to the Americas, the collection shows how US activists can draw inspiration, lessons, and strategy from the dynamic feminist movement across Central and South America.
Most importantly, this collection describes what a fighting movement for reproductive justice could look like - one that fights for the right to parent as we wish or not parent at all, and rejects the criminalization of anyone’s body.
With contributions from: Jenny Brown, Naomi Braine, Verónica Cruz Sanchez of Las Libres, the National Indigenous Women’s Resource Center, Derenda Hancock and Kim Gibson of We Engage, Amelia Bonow of Shout Your Abortion, Barbara Winslow, Marian Jones, Jen Deerinwater, Raquel Reichard, Amy Littlefield and ReproJobs, Erin Matson and Shireen Rose Shakouri from Reproaction, Cheryl Rivera, Victoria Law, Marie Solis, Dr. Mary K. Bowman, Movimento di Lotta Femminile di Padova, Lizzie Presser, Arielle Swernoff, Mattie Lubchansky, and an introduction from Jessie Kindig.
