This activist and storyteller is leading the charge to liberate abortion and create the reproductive future we deserve.
Renee Bracey Sherman is an abortion activist, writer, and founder and co-executive director of We Testify, an organization dedicated to the leadership and representation of people who have abortions. She is also the co-author of Liberating Abortion and and co-host of The A Files: A Secret History of Abortion, a podcast from The Meteor.
FEMINIST Liberating Abortion Interview Questions:
To start, what does feminism mean to you?
Feminism is a belief that all of us deserve human rights, sexual freedom, economic security, and the ability to live our lives to the fullest. It's of course about equity among all of the genders, but it's also about understanding how race, place, class, immigration, disability, and all of the other factors in our lives impact who has access to what and making sure that no one is left behind in our communities.
As an organization that centers abortion storytelling, We Testify has played a major role in reshaping how we talk about abortion. How do you think these stories have impacted public perception?
I am so proud that We Testify has been at the forefront of shaping the abortion storytelling conversation, ensuring that people who have abortions are respected and taking our rightful place in leadership and as a strong voice in the abortion rights movement. It wasn't always that way—we weren't encouraged to share the breadth of our abortion stories due to respectability politics and racist assumptions about who has abortions and why. Thankfully, because of brilliant people who've had abortions who chose to speak out anyway, the conversation is shifting and we're seeing a wider array of stories that reflect who has abortions everyday. What's been beautiful about the rise of abortion stories in our culture is the connection they bring for people who have abortions to realize that they're not alone and for all of us to realize everyone loves someone who had an abortion. When I first started sharing my abortion story, stigmatizing phrases like "safe, legal, and rare" were commonplace, not-so-subtly telling people who have abortions that they shouldn't be talking about their abortion because it shouldn't be something that people do—it should be rare. But as more and more people share their abortion stories, we see that abortion isn't rare. It's very common. And there should be exactly as many abortions as people need.
You recently co-authored the book Liberating Abortion, which implies not just access but a deeper level of freedom. What does a liberated abortion landscape look like to you, and what do you want readers to take away from this vision?
While I could rattle off a list of policies that might make abortion more accessible, what we tried to explain with the book is that liberating abortion is about a way of life. It's about creating communities—and a world—in which everyone is able to freely decide what they'd like to do with their pregnancy, and no matter what that decision is, it's not impacted by how much money, support, time, or community they do or don't have. It's being able to make those decisions without fear of police coming for you or a loved one saying something horrible to you. It's about making sure that all of us, and our families, are supported and have what we need to make the best decisions for ourselves. I keep thinking about Amber Nicole Thurman and Candi Miller, two Black women who are known to have died because they couldn't receive medical care when they needed it; Amber because the doctors were afraid to offer it for fear of being arrested and Candi because she was afraid of being arrested herself. That's awful. No one should fear being arrested simply because they want healthcare. What kind of country do we live in?! Abortion liberation is the polar opposite of what we have now. It's love and support. It's unconditional care. I was recently asked this and the best way I could describe it is that "liberating abortion" is a vibe. It's a feeling that we have—or can create in our families, friendships, communities—where people are able to make their pregnancy decisions, especially their abortion decisions, truly based on what they want and have the abortion that feels best for them.
The book also delves into the long, racist history that brought us to this moment in abortion access. How do racism and economic inequality continue to influence abortion rights and access in the U.S. today?
When we first started writing the book, we had a huge wall with a timeline of the last 6,500 years and looked at what was happening in history and the impact it had on abortion. One of the things that we noticed was each and every time there was an uptick in abortion restrictions and criminalization, the was also backlash towards Black and Brown people seeking liberation, whether it was Indigenous people defending their land and formerly enslaved Black people staking their claim in this nation, increased immigration of Asian, Eastern European, and Latinx populations, or the rise of the Civil Rights Movement. That's because white supremacists in power believe one of their strongest ways of clinging to power is by suppressing reproduction of communities they don't like through eugenics, starvation, and murder, all while forcing the increase of the populations they belong to through criminalizing abortion and forced pregnancies. Controlling reproduction is a cornerstone of fascism, thus abortion and the ability to control one's reproduction is one of the first issues to be criminalized. Today, anti-abortion policies are used as political dog whistles to signify the desire to maintain control over people's bodies—in particular communities of color based on racist assumptions about those groups. The more we understand how abortion is used to divide people politically based on racism and classism, the better equipped we'll be to defend it and stop believing the disinformation that it's an issue people are "morally concerned" about. We've been sold that lie in favor of racism and anti-Blackness.
Are there any individuals or movements from history that particularly inspired you while writing the book or shaping your activism?
Oh my gosh, so many! I really loved Derecka Purnell's book Becoming Abolitionists while I was writing because I loved the way she so brilliantly explained how policing infects every aspect of our lives and what it would take to get us out of it in a way that felt accessible and achievable. Historical figures like Florynce Kennedy, Shirley Chisholm, and Patricia Maginnis were always front of mind when I was thinking about what it would take to liberate abortion with an abolitionist and Black feminist lens because they were leaders at their time calling for no abortion restrictions and doing all they could to highlight the way race and class impacted abortion access. They were visionaries, but I've noticed that their radicalness is often softened when their contributions to abortion rights are recounted.
What role does cultural shame around sexuality and pleasure play in the broader reproductive justice movement? And, how does centering pleasure in the abortion conversation help shift the narrative around bodily autonomy?
The same people who hate us for having abortions hate us for having pleasurable sex. That's always been part of their agenda. In the 19th century, when Anthony Comstock was using the postal service to criminalize birth control and abortion, he was also arresting people for selling sex toys and anything he deemed obscene. He hated pleasure. We wanted to dedicate a chapter in the book to sexuality and pleasure because we felt like it was a topic that doesn't get enough play in the conversation around reproductive rights. There's a lot of conversation about how to prevent STIs and pregnancy, how to have safe sex, but not a lot about how to have pleasurable and enjoyable sex or how to learn about what your body craves. Fully realizing reproductive justice means that we all feel comfortable in our bodies, not only to decide if and when we continue a pregnancy, but also to be able to consent to and enjoy sex, and have sex with ourselves or other people that makes us feel good about ourselves.
Finally, which feminist leaders most inspire you?
I am so deeply inspired by Black feminists who have been unapologetic in their stances, even when it's unpopular because they clung to their values and could see the future of the alternative and tried to speak out. Folks like Florynce Kennedy, Audre Lorde, Barbara Lee, Raquel Willis, Kwajelyn Jackson, Jasmine Burnett, and Mariame Kaba. I look to them for guidance on how to move in moments when the world feels tough.
