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This shouldn't have to be said, but a "sex strike" -- when our enemies' refrain is that if we don't want to get pregnant, we shouldn't have sex -- is a form of cooperation with the patriarchal system that policies our bodies. Celebrities are not movement thinkers, y'all.
But to be fair, we also have people who are respected as movement thinkers fucking up on this topic, so I'm gonna lay out some thoughts here. I saw someone who folks listen to say that men who try to legislate the bodies of ppl who can give birth think they are "for life." NOPE.
The anti-choice movement, as the primary protest vehicle of conservatives emerged bc, back in the 80's, the GOP realized they could no longer be as direct about racism. Yes, they still pushed VERY racist policies, but the battle for flagship issues like segregation had been lost.
To rally their base, while pretending not to be racist (just pragmatic or in favor of fairness or safety or whatever), they made stopping abortion a rallying call for what they're always ultimately rallying for -- the return of a greater social control of marginalized ppl.
Anti-abortion measures also provide opportunities to target the rights of Black and brown people who can give birth, playing into the overall racist dynamic the GOP seeks to maintain. Most of these male legislators don't give a fuck about "life." Never have. That should be clear.
The anti-choice movement is a vehicle for the social outrage of ppl who want to restore hierarchies that were undermined by liberation movements. Do some of its adherents believe they are truly "for life"? Sure. But it would be folly to assume GOP legislators care about fetuses.
Anti-choice measures have never been about "life." They are just an iteration of social control, and that control is amplified for people who are marginalized by virtue of race and class. In this regard, the cultivation of an obsession w stopping abortion is especially useful.
It also addresses issues of "surplus population," not in terms of "overpopulation," but by reinforcing an aversion to lower class & Black & brown pregnancy. The idea pushed by conservatives isn't that marginalized babies should be born -- it's that some ppl shouldn't be breeding.
Ppl who have no state-desired role in a post-safety-net society are viewed by the system as surplus. That surplus is dealt with in various ways. How does being anti-choice target this surplus? Shouldn't it do the opposite? Gad you asked.
The narrative that someone wants your future child, even if you don't, is for white people. With Black and brown folks, the message is always that you should not be having sex or should always be preventing a pregnancy from occurring. (Remember Norplant-based policies? I do.)
It's about autonomy & attacks being waged on our autonomy as ppl who could potentially give birth. To yield to demands of abstinence bc of the actions of conservative men is capitulation. To accept the idea that these men value "life" lends them cover. Both positions are wrong.
It's also important to understand that when it comes to Black and brown communities, anti-choice culture is a win-win for the GOP. If fewer ppl who are viewed as surplus are born, that's successful control. When those ppl are born, parents are vilified for reproducing.
When marginalized children are viewed as the product of the irresponsible behavior of ppl who we're told should not be breeding (other surplus ppl), we're being prepped for a cycle of blame that always traces social harm back to the moral failure of a marginalized parent.
When these children, or the adults they become, meet other forms of surplus disposal, such as the prison system, the blame never falls on the mechanism. The disposal of ppl who are seen as surplus by the system is forever justified by the supposed moral failures of parents.
And while forced birth certainly helps maintain cycles of poverty, which also maintains economic hierarchies/social stigmas, we must understand that there are a lot of layers to how ppl are managed by the suppression of reproductive freedom and the ideas that fuel that fanaticism
As others have said, if you want to do something constructive to support bodily autonomy in these frightening times, donate to an abortion fund. The work of these orgs is absolutely crucial. abortionfunds.org/ways-to-give/
This is also a good moment to revisit the history of the Jane Collective, which (quite illegally) connected ppl with abortion care, and eventually performed abortions themselves, prior to Roe v Wade being decided. splinternews.com/comic-the-stor…
For more on anti-Blackness as it relates to the suppression of reproductive autonomy, I recommend Killing the Black Body by Dorothy Roberts. amazon.com/Killing-Black-…
For more on the management of surplus populations, social/civil disposal and the prison system, I recommend Ruth Wilson Gilmore's Golden Gulag (but it's A LOT, so if prison abolition is a new idea for you, maybe start with Angela Davis' Are Prisons Obsolete?).
This excerpt from Undivided Rights: Women of Color Organizing for Reproductive Justice is also worth checking out, as it explains why the framing of "choice" with regard to reproductive justice is wholly insufficient. truthout.org/articles/how-w…
I also want own that it was unhelpful of me to say "it shouldn't have to be said." It obvi does & we all have a lot to learn. I have other beefs w Milano's actions & that's a factor for me. What matters is that everyday folks w shared values learn & build.
I'm also trying to steer some funds toward some deeply important Black-led repro justice work being done in the South. If you'd like to kick in:
