Exploitation to Empowerment: Black Women’s Bodies & Freedom

As a Black woman, navigating the landscape of reproductive rights in 2024 feels like walking through a battlefield strewn with both the victories of resilience and the scars of generational trauma. We stand at a crossroads where our bodies, rights, and voices are under constant scrutiny, regulation, and often, outright attack. In the wake of court rulings, legislation, and public debates, one thing remains painfully clear—our reproductive freedom has always been treated differently, and in many ways, continues to be.

A History Written in Pain

It is impossible to discuss reproductive rights without confronting the dark history of gynecology’s roots. The so-called "father of modern gynecology," Dr. J. Marion Sims, built his practice on the mutilation and torture of enslaved Black women. He performed surgeries without anesthesia, dismissing their pain because of the racist belief that Black women had a higher threshold for suffering. Anarcha, Betsey, and Lucy—these were not just nameless subjects but women who endured unimaginable pain, who were denied their dignity, and whose bodies were sacrificed in the name of medical progress that would not serve them equally.

This history is not distant; it lingers in our medical institutions today. Black women continue to be ignored, their pain dismissed, and their voices silenced when it comes to reproductive health. Maternal mortality rates are highest among Black women, not because we are biologically predisposed to die in childbirth, but because racism is embedded in the very systems meant to care for us.

The Reality of 2024: Progress or Regression?

As we look at the reproductive rights landscape today, it is clear that the battle is far from over. While some states have fought to safeguard abortion access, others have introduced draconian laws that strip women of their right to make decisions about their own bodies. Black women, in particular, feel the brunt of these restrictions.

Our communities face limited access to quality healthcare and greater economic barriers to obtaining reproductive care. Clinics that serve predominantly Black neighborhoods are often the first to close when restrictive legislation is passed. This leaves Black women with fewer options, forcing many to travel far distances, take time off work, and find childcare—barriers that are often insurmountable.

Moreover, Black women are disproportionately criminalized when it comes to reproductive health decisions. Whether it's being prosecuted for a miscarriage or targeted for seeking out care, the policing of our bodies has become a systemic tool for controlling our autonomy. We cannot afford to ignore how reproductive justice for Black women intersects with the broader issues of mass incarceration, healthcare disparities, and systemic racism.

The Fight for Reproductive Justice: Centering Black Voices

Reproductive justice is not just about the right to choose. For Black women, it is about the right to live, to thrive, to raise our children in safe environments, and to make decisions about our bodies free from coercion, fear, or punishment. This framework, birthed by Black women activists in the 1990s, goes beyond abortion and birth control. It calls for the complete dismantling of systems that oppress and dehumanize us—systems that, from slavery to sterilization, have sought to control our reproductive destinies.

In 2024, Black women are at the forefront of the reproductive justice movement, pushing for a more inclusive, holistic approach to rights that acknowledges our lived experiences. We are demanding an end to the maternal mortality crisis, fighting for expanded healthcare access, and ensuring that our voices are heard in every room where policies affecting our lives are being made.

Our Power, Our Future

The fight for reproductive rights in 2024 is personal. It is shaped by the knowledge that Black women’s bodies have always been battlegrounds in the war over control, exploitation, and dehumanization. But it is also shaped by the unshakable truth that we are resilient, powerful, and deserving of full autonomy over our lives and futures.

This fight is not just about the right to terminate a pregnancy; it’s about the right to live with dignity, to be heard, and to be cared for. It’s about ensuring that Black women, whose bodies have long been exploited for the gain of others, can finally take full ownership of their reproductive destinies.

We stand on the shoulders of the countless Black women who came before us—those who were experimented on, sterilized without consent, and denied agency. We are the joy they dreamed about, fighting with all the tools they gave us to ensure that no more of us are lost to a system that refuses to see our full humanity.

In this fight, there is no turning back. The stakes are too high, and the costs are too grave. For Black women, reproductive justice is a matter of survival, freedom, and the future we will build—not just for ourselves, but for the generations yet to come. Let the world know that we are not just fighting for our rights—we are reclaiming our power!