Smith, Andrea. “Beyond Pro-Choice versus Pro-Life: Women of Color and Reproductive Justice.” NWSA Journal 17, no. 1 (April 2005): 119–40. https://doi.org/10.2307/4317105.
Annotation
Drawing on a range of scholarly and organizational literature, Andrea Smith argues that the pro-life/ pro-choice dichotomy marginalizes the interests of women of color. Furthermore, the author challenges the dichotomy as false, claiming that the two camps share more communalities than differences. For instance, both support a criminal justice approach to reproductive health issues and fail to question the underlying capitalist, patriarchal, white supremacist systems of power, which underlie societal inequities and health disparities. The author delves into her claims, explaining in-depth connections to the prison industrial complex and underlying racism as a driving force for incarceration.
This article offers a complex, critical analysis of the pro-choice and pro-life movements, concluding that both fail to respond to the intersectional realities of women of color. The author ends by advocating for greater outreach on the part of the reproductive justice movement. Smith notes that without building broad support among women of color across the country, the movement lacks the power it needs to challenge patriarchal and capitalist systems.