By: Tamika Turner
Before I tell strangers I work at Planned Parenthood, there's always a split second of hesitation. Are they going to judge my job because of the stigma surrounding reproductive health care? Have they heard lies about the work that we do? Do they believe them? But most pressing is my concern that they'll spit out an old and painful falsehood — that abortion, which Planned Parenthood offers, is an attempt to wipe out Black Americans and commit "Black genocide."
Black women who've had abortions or who support ensuring that abortion is legal and accessible have been subject to a mass misinformation campaign meant to shame them for making their own health care decisions and governing their own bodies. I work for Planned Parenthood because Black women want and deserve access to the full range of reproductive health care — but this persistent lie is threatening their ability to obtain it.
The anti-abortion movement is largely White, with a sizable portion being male, and yet they're some of the loudest voices proclaiming that a Black woman choosing to have an abortion is tantamount to genocide. They co-opt our communities' very real history of
mistreatment from the medical community and turn that fear into yet another shaming tactic used to block Black women from making their own reproductive health care decisions. But it's clear their interest in Black women's actual lives and health care needs begins and ends with abortion.
Tamika Turner is the Constituency Communications Officer at Planned Parenthood Federation of America.
Get the Details:
.jpg)
.png)
