68: If/When/How: Because Reproductive Justice is Racial Justice

When we think about abortion, we tend to imagine Planned Parenthood and/or providers who offer women’s healthcare in their doctor’s offices. We don’t really think about people who are choosing to self-manage the termination of their pregnancy.

(Side note: what comes to mind when you hear the term “self-managed abortion?” Our jaws dropped when we heard it because we hadn’t considered it outside of coat hangers and back alleys.)

Unfortunately, people who manage their own abortions fall into a legal grey zone, and often, because of the way systemic racism works in this country, they are BIPOC who have a higher chance of being criminally prosecuted for doing something that is, while legal according to Roe v. Wade, sometimes challenged outside of the expected medical setting.

Reproductive justice is racial justice. Listen in to learn more.

Have questions, comments, or concerns? Email us at [email protected]

What to listen for:

• What is a self-managed abortion anyway?
• What are some of the issues when it comes to criminalizing reproductive decision making? Sign a petition here.
• How we need to destigmatize abortion and decriminalize women’s reproductive lives.
• The groundbreaking work If/When/How is doing in spearheading a legal defense fund for reproductive justice.
• Resources people can use, including:
• • a Reproductive Legal Helpline for anybody thinking about a self-managed abortion,
  • and the latest state-by-state information on what’s happening in the legal landscape of women’s reproductive rights (with a quick escape button if you need to close the browser immediately).

For this episode, we spoke with Mariko Miki, who is the Managing Director and General Counsel at If/When/How: Lawyering for Reproductive Justice, where she oversees the organization’s programs, people, and policies. Joining If/When/How in 2010, Mariko designed, launched, and directed the Reproductive Justice Fellowship Program, now in its 10th year, and worked to expand reproductive rights and justice course offerings in legal academia. Mariko has served on the Advisory Board of TEACH (Training in Early Abortion for Comprehensive Healthcare) and the Board of Directors for Exhale Pro-Voice, and was a 2019 Rockwood Leadership Reproductive Health, Rights, and Justice Fellow. Mariko graduated from Brown University and Harvard Law School.

Relevant episodes:

• Ep. 46: Our conversation with abortion provider Dr Jenn.
• Ep. 47: The bridge between reproductive rights and health care.
• Ep. 13: Racial disparities in the U.S. healthcare system when it comes to Black moms.

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