The Abortion Ban Will Hurt Women of Color More Than Anyone Else
The downstream consequences of restrictive legislation are severe
In the outcry over the abortion bans, one conversation has been missing: how banning abortion functions as a tool used by those in power to cement existing racial and economic disparities and discrimination, systematically keeping women of color and their families in poverty.
Recently, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez tweeted, “When women are in control of their sexuality, it threatens a core element underpinning right-wing ideology: patriarchy. It’s a brutal form of oppression to seize control of the 1 essential thing a person should command: their own body.” Similarly, the ACLU tweeted, “Here’s to making our own decisions about our bodies, no matter where we live or how much we earn.”
While I agree with Ocasio-Cortez, the ACLU, and many others who talk about the pro-choice versus pro-life debate as being about women’s bodily autonomy, control, and the patriarchy, the question that rings most loudly for me is “which women?” Abortion bans do not affect all women equally and this inequality is critical to understanding why some people support abortion bans.
As a result of the abortion ban, a Brown, Black, or poor woman and…
