Unfortunately, threatening Roe vs. Wade which is based on the “right to privacy” paves the way for the removal of many other rights like criminalising homosexuality, contraceptives, and interracial marriage. Legislation that is anti-abortion, anti-Trans, and anti-LGBTQIA+ are inherently interconnected because they all reduce people’s sexuality and gender to the biological role of reproduction. Not only is this dehumanizing, but it serves to enforce the gender binary and patriarchal hierarchy that keep cisgender Men in power.
We must hold up all of these complexities when having discussions around abortion access, as they come up in our company contexts. Who are we holding responsible for reproductive justice and who needs targeted access to resources? How can you include Trans and Non-binary people in your language around reproductive justice, rather than just making it a “Women’s issue” (particularly as the same Trans people will now have limited access to gender-affirming treatments as Planned Parenthoods are defunded)? Our language and our actions matter. Consider donating to these abortion funds to support people getting access to safe abortions if their state bans them as you reexamine if your policies are equitable for staff affected by this threat to their bodily autonomy.
