Brea Baker is a writer, organizer and author of Rooted: The American Legacy of Land Theft & The Modern Movement for Black Land Ownership. In her opinion column for Unbothered, she shares views on the stream US presidential race.
Nearly 50,000 people gathered at Chicago’s United Center for the 2024 Democratic National Convention. The words “our fight for reproductive freedom” were splashed across the center stage’s largest screen. In front of the block letters, a black woman with the name Caitlin Joshua stood and told the story of how abortion bans left her bleeding and fighting for her life eleven weeks into her pregnancy. While preparing for her two-year-old’s birthday party, Joshua began to miscarry, but doctors at two emergency rooms turned her away because of statewide bans. “No woman should have to experience what I endured,” she said on the first night of the Convention, “but too many have.” Kaitlyn Joshua joined other women from Texas and Kentucky who shared their personal experiences of being unable to access health care, both before and after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. The message from the evening was clear: abortion access is on the ballot and the time for true reproductive justice is now.
If you’ve been following the DNC on social media, Joshua’s speech may not have come across your timelines. Celebrity cameos, memes and Michelle Obama can be heard dominated the dialogue. But reproductive rights must be at the center of the Democratic platform, and activists are fighting to make sure no one is left behind. This means a struggle for the young woman who needs an affordable and safe abortion, the trans man starting a family, the couple struggling with fertility, the non-binary person seeking gender-affirming health care, the sexual assault survivor who deserves authority over their own body, the mother who can’t afford anymore, immigrants parents and their children separated at the border, intergenerational Palestinian families and everyone in between.
Renee Bracey Sherman is a reproductive justice activist and co-author of the forthcoming book Liberating Abortion: Claiming Our History, Sharing Our Stories, and Building the Reproductive Future We Deserve which remembers a time not too long ago when things looked very different. Before the 2016 presidential election, Bracey Sherman led it #AskAboutAbortion campaign because moderators in the Democratic primary debates refused to even mention abortion access or wrestle with policy commitments. “I feel so happy to see that ideology has changed,” Bracey Sherman said of her time in Chicago last week. “There were abortion storytellers — including abortion storytellers of color — who took the stage, shared their stories, and received a standing ovation from the audience. This was something we were told could not be done.”
The abortion debate at the DNC continues to focus on what Republicans are doing, not what Democrats are offering… [It’s] is still a decade behind where we need it, and I think the American public is ready for a visionary conversation about abortion.”
Renee Bracey Sherman, reproductive justice activist
The week of the Convention started with various panels and events organized by My body PACthe first black woman founded a political action committee focused on reproductive justice. My Body PAC’s mission is to invest in grassroots struggles and mobilize young voters to support the local fight for bodily autonomy, and that project made a big splash at this week’s Democratic National Convention. They hosted a series of activations to remind the Democratic base that this is an election of choice and the future of reproductive justice is in our hands. “Black women have historically lacked access to capital and needed access to drive this conversation,” noted My Body PAC founder Ericka Claudio. “On the first day of the DNC, it was important to focus black women candidates up and down the ballot and the experiences of black women.”
The first of My Body PAC’s events, all at the DNC’s Democracy House, was a “Brunch for Choice” panel event. Artist and activist Favianna Rodriguez moderated a conversation with Tennessee State Senators London Lamar and Charlane Oliver. The abortion ban called the “Tennessee Protection of Life Act” has restricted abortions throughout the state with only a few exceptions. Both Lamar and Oliver shared their stories of abortion and miscarriage in a moment of vulnerability that gave way to a larger conversation about the struggle for bodily autonomy. The panel provided an opportunity to explore the impact and ramifications of such legislation and how urgent it is to offer women and the gender marginalized better options than our current status quo.
During the brunch, My Body PAC also unveiled its first list of states to invest in — including Pennsylvania, Michigan, Georgia, Texas and Arizona — highlighting candidates in those areas who are committed to advancing reproductive health. justice and the protection of bodily autonomy. “It’s really important that we empower our state and local leaders with this issue because the Supreme Court has made its decision on this issue,” Claudio said. “This is a local fight and democracy is won locally.” A late-night after-party that night served as both a fundraiser and an unapologetic space for young people to celebrate their bodies in a convention mood that tends to lean more formally. Unbridled glee was central, reflecting the playful tone My Body PAC leans towards when talking about abortion and electoral politics. This is serious work and that doesn’t mean we should surrender to a doom and gloom mentality The Handmaid’s Tale comparisons. “We need more investment in long-term cultural engagement and bringing people closer to this issue,” Claudio reflected.
Protest art and outlandish slogans have consumed Chicago, including a popular one: “Roe Roe Roe Your Vote” in reference to Roe v. Wade repealed in 2022. The phrase is catchy, but it focuses on what has been no clear path to what can be discharged from what has been, as Kamala Harris famously says. “The abortion debate at the DNC is still focused on what the Republicans are doing and not what the Democrats are offering,” Renee Bracey Sherman says of some of the shirts and posters she’s seen. “The conversation is still a decade behind where we need it, and I think the American public is ready for a visionary conversation about abortion.”
Democrats [need to] it stands for reproductive justice — the context, not the buzzword. Abortion is still being discussed in silos when it should be connected to other mainstream issues like the economy and health care.
baker for bread
At a DNC event he hosted Family Values @ Work Action, elected officials, congressional representatives, and national activists emphasized the need for a culture of care for parents, children, the disabled, and other communities that are currently neglected. “We all deserve the ability to care for ourselves and our loved ones without risking our livelihoods,” said Cherita Ellens, President and CEO of Working women. “But across the country, too many of us — especially low-wage women and women of color — don’t have this basic right.” Monifa Bandele, its Senior Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer MomsRising Action, said: “The United States is one of the only nations in the world without a national standard for paid family and medical leave, has one of the highest maternal mortality rates, and is seeing that number rise. If women can’t take care of themselves and get the recovery time they need, it puts them and their families at risk of losing them.”
People have abortion access over their heads, but Bracey Sherman reminds us that at the end of the day, reproductive justice encompasses a wide range of issues such as earning enough to raise a family, quality and affordable housing , healthy eating, preventive health care and more. Bracey Sherman wants to see Democrats stand up for reproductive justice — the context, not the buzzword. Abortion is still being discussed in silos when it should be connected to other mainstream issues like the economy and health care. Additionally, abortion and family planning care have remained out of reach for most who need it even before 2023. Despite thin federal protections, state restrictions and limited availability across the South and Midwest ensure that people of color working class people are less likely to get the health care they deserve. “The roe was the minimum. The roe was broken,” Bracey Sherman continued. “You’re saying to go back to the bare minimum and that doesn’t inspire me.”
Access to abortion and the ability to raise children in safe and healthy communities should not be compromised every four years. We need and deserve a real plan forward not only to codify access to abortion, but also to invest in the infrastructure and frontline workers needed to make family planning readily available to all who need it. Renee Bracey Sherman wants people of all ages and backgrounds to wonder aloud what might have been possible if we had had more robust conversations about reproductive justice ten years ago. “Where would we be?” We can’t turn back time, but there’s always time to correct course. Where might we be in November of this year, January of next year, and several years down the line?
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