REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS
Reproductive rights mean having the freedom to access high-quality reproductive healthcare services, including safe, legal, and affordable abortion and birth control options, for all individuals, regardless of income, location, or educational background.
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Contact Your Representatives – Demand that your elected officials protect reproductive rights by calling or emailing them. Take action here: Contact Your Elected Officials.
Speak Out When It Matters – Learn how to give a public comment so you can advocate for reproductive rights at key moments: How to Give a Public Comment.
Stay Informed on Abortion Access – Know the state of abortion access in your area and get updates by signing up for Planned Parenthood emails: Abortion Access Tool.
Take Action as an Activist – Learn how to organize, track important issues, and take meaningful action: Activist Training & Action.
Support Organizations Fighting for Reproductive Rights – Follow and amplify the work of groups like Planned Parenthood and ACLU to help protect and expand access to reproductive healthcare.
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Knowledge is power. Educate yourself and you’ll be ready to talk with others and find ways to plug in that feel right for you!
Choice vs. Access: Defining Reproductive Justice from Planned Parenthood
Watch this 6 minute video on Choice vs. Access: Defining Reproductive Justice
Key Terms
Reproductive Rights – The legal rights and access to reproductive healthcare, including contraception, abortion, and maternal care.
Bodily Autonomy – The fundamental right to make decisions about one’s own body without government or external control.
Abortion Access – The ability to obtain a safe and legal abortion without unnecessary restrictions or barriers.
Reproductive Justice – A framework that goes beyond legal rights to include access to healthcare, economic justice, and the ability to parent in safe communities.
Trigger Law – A law designed to ban or severely restrict abortion if Roe v. Wade is overturned or weakened.
Crisis Pregnancy Centers (CPCs) – Anti-abortion organizations that pose as legitimate healthcare clinics but provide misleading or false information to discourage abortion.
Medication Abortion – A safe, FDA-approved method for ending a pregnancy using pills, typically mifepristone and misoprostol.
Hyde Amendment – A federal policy that restricts the use of government funds, like Medicaid, from covering abortion services, disproportionately affecting low-income individuals.
TRAP Laws (Targeted Regulation of Abortion Providers) – Laws that impose unnecessary regulations on abortion clinics to force them to close or limit access.
Contraceptive Access – The right to obtain and use birth control methods without barriers, including emergency contraception and long-term options.
Parental Notification & Consent Laws – State laws requiring minors to notify or get permission from a parent before obtaining an abortion, creating additional barriers for young people.
Fetal Personhood Laws – Laws that seek to grant legal rights to fetuses, which can be used to criminalize abortion and limit reproductive healthcare.
Self-Managed Abortion – The process of ending a pregnancy outside of a clinical setting, often with abortion pills, without direct medical supervision.
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National Organizations:
Get involved locally: