Today I share a new voice on a topic near and dear to my heart, as many women’s reproductive rights are being stolen everyday.
Prison Journalism Project author Erica Harris shares an insightful essay on the theft of reproductive rights in America.
I very much believe incarceration is an antiquated solution not at all addressing the issue of mental health. Further, there are far too many prosecutorial incentives to overcharge and encourage bloated sentences.
Detaining women during their child-bearing years results in a permanent loss of fertility, and a violation of our reproductive rights. This is a sexist form of punishment, as men are not subjected to the same limitations. Because the option to preserve fertility — through freezing eggs, for example — is essentially non-existent in U.S. prisons, we as a society have decided that criminal histories should disqualify many women from being mothers.
Erica Harris, “Should Incarceration Deprive Me of Having Another Child?”
Prison Journalism Project
Most incarcerated individuals will eventually return home. But for many, they will not be able to have children.
It’s a very weird time in America, where the birth rate is down and mass incarceration is way up. Yet it’s quiet; a type of silent eugenics movement, with people in power choosing who can reproduce and who cannot.
Rights for all or none at all.
Check out Erica’s article here.
