By Katie Klabusich
Truthout, November 17, 2017
The reproductive justice movement focuses on expanding the ability of all people to access the full spectrum of reproductive health care — from contraception and cancer screenings to abortion and prenatal care. This priority is particularly urgent amid a recent onslaught of unconstitutional restrictive laws. However, reproductive justice activists know that availability means nothing if patients cannot afford to see their physicians. As Truthout has reported, a single-payer system is the only national health plan that would ensure no one falls through the cracks.
“Reproductive justice is focused on each and every person having the resources and tools to exercise agency over their sexual and reproductive lives,” Alexis Cole, policy manager at youth-focused reproductive justice organization URGE: Unite for Reproductive & Gender Equity, told Truthout.
“What we are really talking about is families — every single person must have the ability to determine what kind of family they choose to have and then be able to raise that family healthily,” Cole said. “The only way we do that is through a comprehensive, universal health plan that includes the full spectrum of reproductive health care, including abortion.”
The Medicare for All Act of 2017, introduced by Sen. Bernie Sanders, explicitly covers maternity, infant and abortion care — all of which would be huge wins for the reproductive justice movement.
This piece is part of Fighting for Our Lives: The Movement for Medicare for All, a Truthout original series. Continue reading at the link below.
http://www.truth-out.org…