Why Reproductive Justice?

WHY REPRODUCTIVE JUSTICE?

A KU ETCWGE COLLABORATIVE ZINE PROJECT

The Women of Color Collective SisterSong defines Reproductive Justice (RJ) as “the human right to maintain personal bodily autonomy, have children, not have children, and parent the children we have in safe and sustainable communities.”

Why Reproductive Justice? is a collaborative zine organized by the Emily Taylor Center for Women & Gender Equity in partnership with Students United for Reproductive & Gender Equity, Spencer Museum of Art, and The Commons at KU.

Compiled in 2022, following the overruling of Roe v. Wade, this collaborative zine project prompted participants to consider its titular question – why does Reproductive Justice matter to you?

This zine was released at Paper Plains Zine Fest #2 and accompanied by a panel of contributors hosted by the Spencer Museum of Art on September 2, 2023.

Contents

Supreme Disaster

Adina Duke (she/her)

Grin and Childbear It

Allison Fradkin (she/her)

Bans Off Our Bodies

Charlotte Rooks (she/her)

Eyes Off My Body

Katie Seminoff (she/her & they/them)

I Hate Men but They Count Vote-wise

Douglas Jamal (he/him) P.P.

Arlasia Jones (she/her)

Orgasms for ALL

Rebekah Garrett (she/her)

Black Women Deserve Autonomy

Nikita Haynie (she/her)

Rooted in Health, Carving (Her)story: A Black Woman’s Journey

Maggie Brown-Peoples (she/her)

Bilateral Salpingect

Megan Williams (she/her)

Any of These Peop

Connor Engelsman (he/him & they/them)

DIY Period Pads

Monty F. Protest (he/him)

Grin and Childbear It

Once upon a time, the platitude was: Beggars can’t be choosers

Today we ’ re Wade-ing into the attitude: Eggers can’t be choosers.

Why not let her be? Why take the letter B, the A for autonomy, the C for choice?

It’s bad enough that you deemphasize and dehumanize her. Must you de-alphabetize her as well?

But then, the ball is no longer in her court It’s being bounced on fertile ground and hapless hips

Because the Supremes’ baby love has given her the shaft and the bundle of joy its reception may result in

I can just hear the majority humming your infantilizing victory song as they over-the-moonwalk on air: Breed it, just breed it.

Well, she doesn’t have to be Janet Jackson to take control, so you can beat it like Michael would roll.

It’s really that simple. Because when you take the pro out of reproductive, you get reductive. So you may not want to rejoice yet. Because she’s going to re-choice yet again. Her fight’s not over. It’s ovaried.

Dissatisfied with your vote-by-male system, she’s not only planning to rock the boat.

She’s planning to Roe it.

As a matter of fact, she’s giving birth to the totally fallopian tubular concept that yes, she can uterise up and take you down.

You must support that babe up in arms.

After all, you believe that life begins at conception, right?

FREEDOM FROM P R EGNANCY & PARENTHOO D

bilateral salpingectomy

STUDENTS UNITED FOR REPRODUCTIVE & GENDER EQUITY

We advocate for reproductive justice and gender equity — including abortion positivity, period poverty alleviation, safer sex practices, and comprehensive sex+ education — at KU and beyond.

SURGE is a campus-based chapter of UNITE FOR REPRODUCTIVE & GENDER EQUITY.

URGE envisions a liberated world where we can live with justice, love freely, express our gender and sexuality, and define and create families of our choosing. URGE builds power and sustains a young people’s movement for reproductive justice by centering the leadership of young people of color who are women, queer, trans, nonbinary, and people of low-income.

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