Too often, we’re led to believe that desiring all the resources necessary for family planning is an issue led by “liberal outsiders” who have no vested interest in the value of family. We’re led to believe that the desire for bodily autonomy shouldn't belong to Mississippians. We’re told that being a person of faith means that one must affirm the restriction of reproductive healthcare access for everyone, despite their personal needs or beliefs. The Mississippi Abortion Access was created to navigate what it means to take care of Mississippians in the aftermath of Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization (yes, Jackson, as in Jackson, Mississippi), the landmark Supreme Court Case that overturned Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court case that federally protected privacy when accessing abortion healthcare. Before the “reversal” of Roe, reproductive health outcomes in Mississippi were already bleak. We are some of the nation’s leaders in maternal and infant mortality rates. Many rural hospitals have closed, and the ever-present shortage of healthcare providers leaves Mississippi as a reproductive healthcare desert. The healthcare drought has led to increased pressure on Mississippi’s families. Economic opportunities, especially for women and LGBTQ+ people, are few and far between. The grocery tax continues to make it difficult for children to eat meals at night. Diapers, formula, and period hygiene items continue to be taxed, deepening the economic pressure on mothers and people with a uterus in Mississippi. Despite these hardships, Mississippi’s greatest assets are its people. Care for ourselves and our neighbors is embedded in our culture because to live in a place like Mississippi means to know that everyone has counted us out except our own. We know how great each of us and our state can be with the proper support, resources, and access. Through this lens, our Coalition has embarked on the journey to become a part of the Reproductive Justice movement and use its framework.
Reproductive justice extends the scope of reproductive rights and specifies the focus of social justice. SisterSong, a leading Reproductive Justice organization, defines Reproductive Justice as “the human right to maintain personal bodily autonomy, have children, not have children, and parent the children we have in safe and sustainable environments.” Our commitment to Mississippians requires us to examine the multi-faceted measures that stand in the way of our right and responsibility to care for ourselves and our families. Justice exists beyond the clean-cut lines of division that anti-abortion activists will have you believe. Abortion healthcare impacts miscarriage management, which impacts period equity, and contraceptive access, which also impacts public education, voting rights, and economic opportunities for those working, living, and raising families in the nation’s poorest state.
Simply put, we rarely make one decision at a time, and those decisions seldom only impact us. Our commitment to the Reproductive Justice framework is a commitment to our belief that Mississippians are capable of making the best decisions for themselves and their families. Government interference, especially in a state without a process that allows citizens to place their concerns directly on the ballot, undermines the trust our government officials should have in each Mississippian to define “family” for themself. Reproductive justice is about creating “safe and sustainable” environments that aid all Mississippians in that process.
In 2025, we will rebrand as the Mississippi Reproductive Justice Coalition. Our work will focus on four issues: abortion access and healthcare, birth justice, period justice, and civic engagement and voting rights. We are forming an identity that is true for us as a body leading the work of Reproductive Justice organizing, policy, and advocacy in Mississippi. We recognize that direct democracy is vital to the future of reproductive health, rights, and justice. That’s why we’re activating voters to learn more about the ballot initiative process and how we can use it to improve the well-being of families in Mississippi.
Despite the narratives pushed forward by those on the other side, we love Mississippi and its people, too. We love Mississippi even when this place refuses to love us back. We hope our work in this Coalition is an extension of our love for our state, its people, and the future of all of Mississippi’s families.
In Solidarity and With Love,
Tyler Harden (she/her)
Director
Mississippi Reproductive Justice Coalition
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The Mississippi Reproductive Justice Coalition is a collaboration of organizations fighting to ensure Mississippians have access to reliable and equitable information, resources, and services for the advancement of safe and legal abortion access and reproductive health, rights, and justice. The shared vision of the members of MRJC is accessibility to the full spectrum of reproductive healthcare,
including effective abortion care and services for all Mississippians in their home communities without
stigma, limitations, barriers, or criminalization
