Women lost more than the right to choose when the U.S. Supreme Court reversed the landmark decision of Roe v. Wade. Women lost the freedom that comes with self-reliance, self-determination, and bodily autonomy. We are reminded, yet again, that we are second class citizens – subordinate and subject to ideals and laws that meet the needs of the few instead of the needs of the many. BIPOC women already stand in the gap when it comes to wealth, education, housing, poverty, maternal and infant mortality, and countless other inequities with high barriers. The Dobbs decision makes it almost impossible to move beyond the gap when options are restricted and women must live the life they are forced into, instead of the life they want. Life, liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness do not apply.
BIPOC women will be even more vulnerable to domestic violence, sexual assault, dating violence, and stalking. Research states that between 3% and 9% of women experience abuse during pregnancy and risk factors that assure higher rates of abuse, include young age, single, race/ethnicity, and poverty. Adults and children who are impregnated by rape or incest will be tied to those who violated them…for life. Lives will be lost and childhoods will be stolen. The psychological, physical, and financial toll of carrying an unwanted pregnancy to term in an environment that is already hostile to BIPOC women is incalculable. Denying the freedom to choose will have collateral consequences of compound, complex, trauma for generations of BIPOC communities.
BIPOC women will be even more vulnerable to domestic violence, sexual assault, dating violence, and stalking. Research states that between 3% and 9% of women experience abuse during pregnancy and risk factors that assure higher rates of abuse, include young age, single, race/ethnicity, and poverty. Adults and children who are impregnated by rape or incest will be tied to those who violated them…for life. Lives will be lost and childhoods will be stolen. The psychological, physical, and financial toll of carrying an unwanted pregnancy to term in an environment that is already hostile to BIPOC women is incalculable. Denying the freedom to choose will have collateral consequences of compound, complex, trauma for generations of BIPOC communities.
About the Authors
Ujima Inc., The National Center on Violence Against Women in the Black Community
