UUnniivveerrssiittyy ooff NNeeww OOrrlleeaannss SScchhoollaarrWWoorrkkss@@UUNNOO University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations and Theses Dissertations Spring 5-18-2012 RRaacciiaall RReepprroodduuccttiivvee CCoonnttrrooll LLooggiiccss aanndd tthhee RReepprroodduuccttiivvee JJuussttiiccee MMoovveemmeenntt Nicole Jolly Univeristy of New Orleans, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.uno.edu/td Part of the Gender and Sexuality Commons, Inequality and Stratification Commons, Politics and Social Change Commons, Quantitative, Qualitative, Comparative, and Historical Methodologies Commons, Race and Ethnicity Commons, and the Social Control, Law, Crime, and Deviance Commons RReeccoommmmeennddeedd CCiittaattiioonn Jolly, Nicole, "Racial Reproductive Control Logics and the Reproductive Justice Movement" (2012). University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations. 1449. https://scholarworks.uno.edu/td/1449 This Thesis is protected by copyright and/or related rights. It has been brought to you by ScholarWorks@UNO with permission from the rights-holder(s). You are free to use this Thesis in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights- holder(s) directly, unless additional rights are indicated by a Creative Commons license in the record and/or on the work itself. This Thesis has been accepted for inclusion in University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks@UNO. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Racial Reproductive Control Logics and the Reproductive Justice Movement A thesis Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the University of New Orleans in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Sociology By Nicole Marie Jolly B.A. Southern Oregon University, 2009 May 2012 © 2012, Nicole Marie Jolly ii ACKNOWLEDGMENT I would like to extend my immense gratitude to Dr. Rachel Luft, my thesis chair and mentor. My research would not have been possible without Dr. Luft’s expertise, guidance, and continuous support. Throughout my time at the University of New Orleans she has challenged me analytically and pushed my critical thinking skills. I would like to thank my committee members, Dr. Susan Mann and Dr. Pam Jenkins for their assistance and support. Dr. Mann’s enthusiasm for my project along with her feedback and suggestions were invaluable. Dr. Jenkins guided me through an intense coding process with patience and encouragement. I would also like to express my gratitude to the organizations in this study for the tireless work that they do and to the staff members who willingly donated their time and knowledge to my research. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Tables ........................................................................................................................ v List of Figures ...................................................................................................................... vi Abstract .............................................................................................................................. vii Chapter One: Introduction ................................................................................................. 1 Chapter Two: Theory .......................................................................................................... 6 Chapter Three: Racial Reproductive Control Logics ......................................................... 14 Chapter Four: Literature Review ..................................................................................... 25 Beyond Pro-choice/Pro-life Dichotomy ................................................................ 26 Health Care ........................................................................................................... 27 Population Control .............................................................................................. 31 Criminal Justice .................................................................................................... 38 Welfare ................................................................................................................. 41 Immigration .......................................................................................................... 43 Environmental Justice ........................................................................................... 45 Summary .............................................................................................................. 48 Chapter Five: Research Design and Methods ................................................................... 50 Chapter Six: Findings and Analysis .................................................................................... 57 What is Reproductive Justice ............................................................................... 57 The Work of the Movement ................................................................................. 71 Identifying as Race-Specific .................................................................................. 90 Challenges ............................................................................................................. 93 Chapter Seven: Discussion and Conclusion ...................................................................... 97 Works Cited .................................................................................................................... 103 Appendix A: IRB Approval ............................................................................................... 108 Appendix B: Consent Form ............................................................................................. 109 Appendix C: Participation Request Template ............................................................... 110 Appendix D: Themes and Codes ..................................................................................... 111 Vita .................................................................................................................................. 112 iv LIST OF TABLES Table 1: Summary of Salient Reproductive Issues by Institution/System and Race ........ 49 Table 2: Interviewee Profiles ............................................................................................ 53 v LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: Intersection of Reproductive Justice and Social Issues ..................................... 25 Figure 2: Percentages of Women Sterilized (1968-1982) ................................................. 33 Figure 3: Stop the Blame: Population Control Imagery .................................................... 81 vi ABSTRACT The reproductive justice movement gives a voice and representation to women of color whose experience of reproductive control is impacted by intersecting layers of oppression. This thesis uses an intersectional approach to develop the concept of racial reproductive control logics, which describes the relationship between racial logics and racial patterns of reproductive control. The study uses qualitative interviews and content analysis of organizational material to explore how the reproductive justice movement is influenced by racial reproductive control logics. Keywords: Reproductive justice, intersectionality, racial formation, gender, reproductive control vii CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION A third of all women of childbearing age in Puerto Rico were sterilized between 1968 and 1982 (Ralstin Lewis 2005). Native American women on the Mohawk reservation in New York unknowingly expose their babies to environmental toxins through their breast milk (LaDuke 1999). Mexican immigrants miscarry and experience premature labor due to the stress of immigration home raids (Lindsley 2002). Women in prison, who are disproportionately women of color, are victims of sexual assault and rape; pregnant women in prison receive inadequate prenatal care (Roberts 1998). Women on welfare have been coerced to use Norplant, a long term contraceptive with extensive side effects, which can include permanent sterilization (Roberts 1998). Vietnamese women who make up 80% of the nail salon workers in California are exposed to toxic chemicals that contribute to higher levels of spontaneous abortion, birth defects, and reproductive problems (Rojas-Cheatham et al. 2009). These are some examples of the variety of issues that disproportionately affect the reproductive lives of women of color, and they represent some of the issues tackled by the reproductive justice movement. While the terms reproductive rights, reproductive health, and reproductive justice are often used interchangeably and can overlap in meaning, Silliman et al. (2004) identify how some women of color organizations use reproductive justice “to recognize that the control, regulation, and stigmatization of female fertility, bodies, and sexuality are connected to the regulation of communities that are themselves based on race, class, gender, sexuality, and nationality” (4). While there are many varying definitions of reproductive justice, for the purpose of this study, reproductive justice can be defined as achieving complete 1 autonomy and access related to the reproductive health and safety of a woman, her family, and her community. The complexity and variety of reproductive issues that face women of color are much broader than what has been promoted by many of the mainstream reproductive organizations that focus primarily on abortion rights. While women of color have historically participated in the reproductive choice movement, and continue to fight for abortion rights, there has been a common feeling that their voices have not been heard and their issues have not been addressed. Women of color argue that the reproductive choice movement does not take into account the ways that the reproductive lives and concerns of women of color differ from those of the White women who lead these movements (Luna 2009:351). White women fighting for reproductive rights center their efforts on the idea of choice, but are really focusing on the choice of whether or not to have an abortion, rather than the multitude of choices that women might have, or not have, in regards to their reproductive lives. Some of these choices include, but are not limited to, the choice to self-regulated contraception, the choice to have children, the choice not to have children, the choice of when and where to have children, the choice of having a healthy pregnancy, the choice to provide for her children, the choice to raise her children within their own culture, the choice to raise children in a safe and healthy environment, and the choice to provide shelter for her children. Women of color, poor women, and other women on the margins, because of the space they occupy on the social hierarchy and the multiple layers of oppression that they experience, are often not given these choices that affluent White women may not even have to consider. 2