August 2019
The founders and board of directors of Our Bodies Ourselves believe abortion is an integral component of health care and a human right. This conviction has informed our voice and our work on behalf of the communities we’ve been serving for over fifty years.
In solidarity with global feminist health movements, we call for reproductive justice. Every person has the right not to have a child; every person wanting a child has the right to bear that child; everyone has a right to receive comprehensive sexual and reproductive health services, including abortion, along with a full range of community support.
In response to the threats to abortion rights and access in the United States, we condemn the recent legislation passed in Alabama, Missouri, Louisiana, and Georgia. Whether or not these laws are deemed unconstitutional by the highest court, they viciously target abortion procedures and abortion providers. Georgia’s law dares to roll back our rights even further by criminalizing anyone who opts to have an abortion.
Right now, Republican leaders in additional states are working on similar legislation designed to destroy access to legal and safe abortion. If any of these state laws is declared constitutional, the landmark Roe v. Wade decision made by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1973 will be reversed. As the end goal of those opposed to abortion, such a decision will have a disastrous impact on all of us, especially people of color and those with limited economic means.
OBOS is opposed to both the global gag rule and the recently imposed (and contested) domestic gag rule that would prevent any clinic or provider that performs abortions or offers abortion referrals from receiving any funding under Title X. Title X pays for birth control and other family planning services for low-income individuals, so this new rule would have an impact on far more than abortion services.
OBOS supports the Women Help Women initiative called Self-Managed Abortion; Safe and Supported (SASS). The primary goal of SASS is to provide information and support to women in the United States around self-managed abortion, to reduce any negative health impact associated with unsafe abortion methods, and to ensure that self-managed abortions are medically and legally as safe as possible.
We are committed to supporting organizations that protect legal, safe, and accessible abortion, that seek to repeal the Hyde Amendment, and that work to pass the Equal Rights Amendment.
All people have a human right to safe, free, and inclusive health care in the context of a progressive, anti-racist, humane, and just society. We will continue to work for the economic, social, and legal equality that guarantees reproductive freedom, real choice, and self-determination over our bodies and our lives.
