Our Reproductive Justice Reading List

A reading list of articles and books to help understand Reproductive Justice and the various parts of the movement. This list is constantly evolving and expanding. Send us suggestions via email if you’d like to add a text!

Last Updated on May 16, 2022.
Originally Published on March 2nd, 2020.

Reproductive Justice Framework

• Reproductive Justice by Sister Song

• Feminist Theory: From Margin to Center by bell hooks (Book)

• “Reproductive Justice, Not Just Rights” (2015) by Dorothy Roberts

• “The Meaning of Reproductive Justice: Simplifying a Complex Concept” by Miriam Zoila Pérez

• "The Color of Choice: White Supremacy and Reproductive Justice." by Loretta Ross

• “The Long, Disgraceful History of American Attacks on Brown and Black Women’s Reproductive Systems” by Natasha Lennard

• If/When/How Brief on Reproductive Justice in the Prison System

• “Beyond Roe v. Wade: Struggling for Abortion Access” by Emily Janakiram

• Not Just Abortion:

  • “Who is fit for motherhood? : Why abortion is not the only reproductive right” by Lauren Jade Martin.

  • “Understanding Reproductive Justice: Transforming the Pro-Choice Movement” by Loretta Ross

  • “Reproductive Justice and ‘Choice’: An Open Letter to Planned Parenthood” by Monica Simpson

Abolition and Criminalization

• “Abolition Medicine” by Iwai, Khan, and Dasgupta

• Abolition. Feminism. Now. by Gina Dent, Angela Davis, Erica Meiners, and Beth Richie.

• “Women, Race, and Class Ch:13” by Angela Davis

• “Invisible Sex Workers” by Charlotte Shane

• Killing the Black Body: Race, Reproduction and the Meaning of Liberty by Dorothy Roberts (Book)

Birth Justice 

• “ A Woman’s Rights” by the NYT Editorial Board

• “Why America’s Black Mothers and Babies Are in a Life-or-Death Crisis” by Linda Villarosa

• “Nothing Protects Black Women From Dying in Pregnancy and Childbirth” (2017) by Nina Martin and Renee Montagne

• Open Letter in the New York Times (2020) by Birth Justice Now 

Social Reproduction Theory 

• Social Reproduction Theory by Thithi Bhattacharya (Book)

• The Right to Sex: Feminism in the 21st Century by Amia Srinivasan (Book)

• Full Surrogacy Now: Feminism Against the Family by Sophie Lewis (Book)

• Feminist International by Verónica Gago (Book)

• Fortunes of Feminism by Nancy Fraser (Book)

• “The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State” by Frederick Engels

Queer & Trans Reproductive Rights 

• “The Right to (Trans) Parent: A Reproductive Justice Approach to Reproductive Rights, Fertility, and Family-Building Issues Facing Transgender People” by Laura Nixon

• “We Must Promote Gender-Inclusive Reproductive Health Care” by Sophia Serrao

•  “If You Really Care About Reproductive Justice, You Should Care About Transgender Rights!” (Fact Sheet) by National Women’s Law Center

Sterilization 

• “History of Forced Sterilization and Current U.S. Abuses” by Kathryn Krase

• “Our Long, Troubling History of Sterilizing the Incarcerated” by the Marshall Project

Disability Rights 

• “Disability and the Right to Choose” by Jennifer Bartlett

• “To Fight for My Son, I Have to Argue That He Should Never Have Been Born” by Jen Gann in The Cut 

• “How the Pro-Choice Movement Excludes People With Disabilities” by Lenzi Scheible in Rewire

• “Abortion and Disability” by Ruth Hubbard in the Disability Studies Reader

The Over-Medicalization of Birth and Need for Doulas/Midwives

•  “Over-medicalization of Maternal Health in America” by Every Mother Counts

• “A shocking number of women are harassed, ignored, or mistreated during childbirth.” by Julia Belluz

• Obstetric Violence by Birth Monopoly