User:M. M. VanZandt/sandbox/ new page

M.M. VanZandt/sandbox/ new page

= Birth Justice = Birth Justice Versus Reproductive Justice Frameworks Given ever-changing socioeconomic conditions, the notion of reproductive justice is both multi-faceted and fluid. However, according to Sister Song Women of Color Reproductive Justice Collective (the first organization founded explicitly to address reproductive justice), the framework definition is as follows: "the human right to maintain personal bodily autonomy, have children, not have children, and parent the children we have in safe and sustainable communities." Alternatively, birth justice centers the empowerment of cis and trans women to make healthy decisions for themselves and their babies during pregnancy, labor, childbirth, and postpartum. Birth justice is part of a broader movement against reproductive oppression. It aims to dismantle racial, classist, gendered, and sexual inequalities that contribute to adverse birth experiences for women of color, low-income women, survivors of violence, immigrant women, queer folk, transfolk, and women in the Global South. Birth justice is framed by a communal education that challenges a  myriad of abuses committed by medical personnel and the overuse of medical intervention. It also advocates for universal access to culturally appropriate, women-centered health care. Birth justice protects a woman’s choice to carry or not carry a pregnancy and choose when, where, how, and with whom to give birth. These methods include but are not limited to traditional and Indigenous birth workers (e.g., midwives and doulas) and the right to breastfeeding support. The birth justice movement fully believes that birthing people recognizing their innate power to make the best health decisions for themselves throughout pregnancy will fundamentally transform their families and communities.