White People’s Role in Fighting for Abortion Access
Abortion access is a racial justice issue. As white people, we need to make sure our people show up as a part of movements for reproductive justice, not a block to them.
Yesterday, Politico published a leaked draft of a ruling by ultra-conservative Justice Samuel Alito. If the majority of Court Justices side with this ruling, it will enact the long-held goal of the Right to block millions of people from access to critical abortion services in their state, particularly in rural areas, the Midwest, and the South. In a country that invests in child prisons while failing to provide universal childcare or quality healthcare to the people that need it most, Black people, immigrants, people of color and low-income and rural white people will bear the brunt of harm caused by this ruling.
The Right has been playing a long game around this wedge issue, investing billions of dollars over the last forty years to build a political stronghold in and over the communities impacted the most by the potential ruling. They consolidated a primarily white, religious base motivated by lies and scare tactics about abortion, and used this political power to whittle down voting rights, expand the prison system, ram ultra-conservative judges onto the Supreme Court, and increase the wealth of a few at the cost of the rest of us.
But our movements have been playing a long game too. As white people, our role is to organize white people away from the lies of the Right and into movements for justice. So many white people will suffer at the expense of this potential ruling- so together we must work with our partners and build multiracial solidarity to win the things we all need to thrive.
Access to abortion is a racial justice issue: communities of color have been systematically disinvested in and denied safe and affordable health care. And they are visioning our way forward. The reproductive justice movement is primarily led by Black women and women of color who have set a clear agenda for how we win a world where all people have autonomy over their bodies and futures. In the days ahead, join us to make sure white communities show up alongside this vision.
Here are three ways you can support reproductive rights this week:
- Phonebank with SURJ to put bold women of color in Congress like Attica Scott, who is the kind of leader we need to fight for the future of abortion access.
- Donate to the National Network of Abortion Funds, split between 80 communities, so anyone who needs an abortion can get one, no matter what the court rules in the weeks ahead.
- Support people of color-led reproductive justice organizing groups, like Sister Song.
- Join SURJ to get updates in the days ahead about how we can take action to break the power of the Right and organize white people into our movements for the long haul.
Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ) is a national organization that organizes white communities into fights for racial and economic justice. Learn more at SURJ.org
