Abortion rights demonstrators march near the State Capitol in Austin, Texas, June 25, 2022. - Abortion rights defenders fanned out across America on June 25 for a second day of protest against the Supreme Court's thunderbolt ruling, as state after conservative state moved swiftly to ban the procedure. (Photo by SUZANNE CORDEIRO/AFP via Getty Images)

Common narratives around reproductive health, rights, and justice leave out marginalized groups, especially BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ folks. In doing so, solutions to strengthen reproductive autonomy and health often fall short because reporting is largely focused on narratives centering anti-abortion movements, the voices of large, established reproductive rights organizations that fear leaning left and alienating centrist donors, and white, cishet reproductive rights activists. This reading list, and Prism’s work around reproductive health, rights, and justice, aim to address what other outlets often leave out: the historical, settler-colonial context around family separations and forced births, how the reproductive rights movement marginalizes BIPOC, and how it is crucial to tackle these issues in tandem with migrant rights, workers’ rights, climate justice, capitalism, and more.

Abortion is freedom by Tina Vasquez

It’s not hyperbole to say that access to abortion care is a matter of life and death, but this urgency is not felt by elected officials or the courts

How to organize safely in a post-Roe world by Reina Sultan

For those new to reproductive justice, taking steps on and offline to protect against surveillance is critical

Criminalizing abortion isn’t just about controlling ‘women’s bodies’ by Sherronda J. Brown

In the fight for reproductive justice, it’s time to recognize that white supremacy and capitalism are just as much our antagonists as patriarchy

Abortion access and funding have always been a struggle in U.S. territories by Cecille Joan Avila

Access to abortion in U.S. territories post-Dobbs is just as difficult as before, and those concerns aren’t even a discussion within the mainstream reproductive rights movement

Abortion funds have been inundated with donations and volunteer requests, but some are still struggling to survive by Tina Vasquez

At least eight Texas abortion funds have been forced to pause operations, causing a ripple effect for out-of-state groups now struggling to support a rising tide of patients

Undocumented people struggle to access reproductive care due to militarization of Arizona borderlands by María Inés Taracena

BIPOC communities living in border states like Arizona have for long been familiar with the anxiety triggered by hostile policies that target their livelihoods

Pregnancy, parenthood, and prison: the right to choose where autonomy is elusive by Tamar Sarai

Pregnant incarcerated people have been navigating abortion restrictions long before Roe’s reversal

The anti-choice movement won’t stop at criminalizing abortion by Tina Vasquez

Anti-abortion advocates already seek to erode other rights and will continue casting a wider net to criminalize abortion support networks

For Black women and femmes, the fall of Roe is rooted in a history of violence by Breya M. Johnson and Toni Wilson

True reproductive justice for Black women, girls, and gender-expansive people requires an intergenerational and intersectional lens

Adoptees Disrupting Adoption Narratives Series by Tina Vasquez

Adoptees Disrupting Adoption Narratives is a series of as-told-to pieces written and curated by Prism’s editor-at-large, Tina Vasquez, featuring adoptees who shared in their own words what being an adoptee means to them and how current narratives around adoption are inextricably linked to family separations, settler colonialism, and white supremacy. They also delve into how adoptee-led discussions are necessary for the sexual and reproductive health, rights, and justice movements. 

Lara is an award-winning writer and editor. Their journalism career started at the Philadelphia CityPaper and the Philadelphia Daily News. Lara also freelanced for national publications like Harper’s...