Latina Roundtable on Health and Reproductive Rights

Last updated

Latina Roundtable on Health and Reproductive Rights (LRHRR) was a Latina reproductive rights organization based in New York City.

History

Latina Roundtable on Health and Reproductive Rights was founded in New York City by a group of Latina organizers in October 1989. LRHRR was the only visible organization for women of color in the state that was dedicated to advocating for greater access to health care and reproductive services for Latinas. [1] The organization viewed health care as part of a community based approach that integrated health and social services holistically and formed diverse coalitions to discuss religious and cultural norms of Latinas and their effect on available healthcare. [2] These discussions led the LRHRR created an analysis and action plan of policies most affecting healthcare for Latinas. The first executive director was Wilma Montanez, and was succeeded by Luz Rodriguez in 1996. [1]

In 1992, LRHRR organized a clinic to train more than 5,000 individuals to keep abortion protesters from interfering with clinics during Operation Rescue's abortion protests in the South Bronx. [1] [3]

In 1997 and 1998, LRHRR led meetings with sixteen different women of color organizations about reproductive tract infections among women of color which started discussions about the need for a collective vision to promote research and reproductive justice advocacy for women of color. Rodriguez later secured a $60,000 grant from the Ford Foundation to establish the SisterSong Women of Color Reproductive Justice Collective in 1997. [4] [1] [5] [6]

In 1998, the LRHRR closed its doors due to poor infrastructure. [1]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">March for Women's Lives (2004)</span> Mass demonstration for womens rights in Washington, D.C.

The March for Women's Lives was a protest demonstration held on April 25, 2004 at the National Mall in Washington, D. C. There was approximately 1.3 million participants. The demonstration was led by seven groups; National Organization for Women, American Civil Liberties Union, Black Women’s Health Imperative, Feminist Majority, NARAL Pro Choice America, National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health, and Planned Parenthood Federation of America. The march was intended to address topics such as abortion rights, reproductive health care, women's rights, and others. Originally named the March for Freedom, the march was renamed in an effort to expand the message of "pro-choice" to include the right to have children, access to pre and post natal care, as well as sex education that were not always accessible for women of color.

Byllye Yvonne Avery is an American health care activist. A proponent of reproductive justice, Avery has worked to develop healthcare services and education that address black women's mental and physical health stressors. She is best known as the founder of the National Black Women's Health Project, the first national organization to specialize in Black women's reproductive health issues. For her work with the NBWHP, she has received the MacArthur Foundation's Fellowship for Social Contribution and the Gustav O. Lienhard Award for the Advancement of Health Care from the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences, among other awards.

The Chicago Women's Liberation Union (CWLU) was an American feminist organization founded in 1969 at a conference in Palatine, Illinois.

Women's Health Action and Mobilization (WHAM!) was an American activist organization based in New York City, established in 1989 in response to the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Webster v. Reproductive Health Services that states may bar the use of public money and public facilities for abortions. WHAM! started as the direct action committee of the Reproductive Rights Coalition, but soon broke away to form its own organization.

Unite for Reproductive & Gender Equity (URGE) is a national youth-led reproductive rights and justice non-profit organization in the United States based in Washington, D.C. that began as Choice USA in 1992. Choice USA changed its name to URGE in July 2014.

Reproductive justice is a critical feminist framework that was invented as a response to United States reproductive politics. The three core values of reproductive justice are the right to have a child, the right to not have a child, and the right to parent a child or children in safe and healthy environments. The framework moves women's reproductive rights past a legal and political debate to incorporate the economic, social, and health factors that impact women's reproductive choices and decision-making ability.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Merle Hoffman</span>

Merle Hoffman is an American journalist and activist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1977 National Women's Conference</span> Four-day event in Houston, Texas

The National Women's Conference of 1977 was a four-day event during November 18–21, 1977, as organized by the National Commission on the Observance of International Women's Year. The conference drew around, 2,000 delegates along with 15,000-20,000 observers in Houston, Texas, United States. The United States Congress approved $5 million in public appropriations for both the state and national conferences as HR 9924, sponsored by Congresswoman Patsy Mink, which Ford signed into law. In 1977 at the start of his presidency, President Jimmy Carter chose a new Commission and appointed Congresswoman Bella Abzug to head it. Numerous events were held over the next two years, culminating in the National Women's Conference.

The Feminist Women's Health Center of Atlanta is a feminist health center that provides comprehensive gynecological health care, engages in community outreach, and advocates for reproductive justice. Kwajelyn Jackson has been executive director since 2018.

African Americans', or Black Americans', access and use of birth control are central to many social, political, cultural and economic issues in the United States. Birth control policies in place during American slavery and the Jim Crow era highly influenced Black attitudes toward reproductive management methods. Other factors include African-American attitudes towards family, sex and reproduction, religious views, social support structures, black culture, and movements towards bodily autonomy.

Jael Silliman is an author, scholar, and women’s right activist. She currently works as a consultant on gender and development, women of color and reproductive rights, and gender and environment issues. She lives in New York City and Calcutta. She is widely held in libraries worldwide.

The Native American Women's Health Education Resource Center (NAWHERC) is a nonprofit organization that provides health resources to Native American women and also advocates for women's health, reproductive choices, economic issues and land and water rights. NAWHERC is first organization dedicated to women's health to open up on an Indian Reservation in the United States. Its agenda is "consistently broad" because NAWHERC does not separate women's issues from community issues.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Loretta Ross</span> African American activist, writer and teacher on reproductive justice

Loretta J. Ross is an American academic, feminist, and activist who advocates for reproductive justice, especially among women of color. As an activist, Ross has written on reproductive justice activism and the history of African American women.

The women's health movementin the United States refers to the aspect of the American feminist movement that works to improve all aspects of women's healthcare. It began during the second wave of feminism as a sub-movement of the women's liberation movement. WHM activism involves increasing women's knowledge and control of their own bodies on a variety of subjects, such as fertility control and home remedies, as well as challenging traditional doctor-patient relationships, the medicalization of childbirth, misogyny in the health care system, and ensuring drug safety.

Monica Simpson is a queer Black activist, artist, and executive director of SisterSong Women of Color Reproductive Justice Collective, the United States' largest organization dedicated to reproductive justice for women of color.

The SisterSong Women of Color Reproductive Justice Collective, also known as SisterSong, is a national activist organization dedicated to reproductive justice for women of color.

Luz Rodriguez is a Puerto Rican reproductive rights advocate.

Abortion in Illinois is legal. Laws about abortion dated to the early 1800s in Illinois; the first criminal penalties related to abortion were imposed in 1827, and abortion itself became illegal in 1867. As hospitals set up barriers in the 1950s, the number of therapeutic abortions declined. Following Roe v. Wade in 1973, Illinois passed a number of restrictions on abortion, many of which have subsequently been repealed. Illinois updated its existing abortion laws in June 2019. The state has seen a decline in the number of abortion clinics over the years, going from 58 in 1982 to 47 in 1992 to 24 in 2014.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Network of Abortion Funds</span> Organization dedicated to increasing access to abortion for low-income people across the U.S.

The National Network of Abortion Funds (NNAF) is a national social justice organization that aims to increase access to abortion for low-income people across the U.S.

The National Latina Institute for Reproductive Justice is a health and reproductive rights organization representing the Latina community living in the United States. Previously the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health, the organization started as The Latina Initiative, which was created in direct response to the lack of Latina visibility on reproductive rights and health issues. Its mission is to ensure the fundamental human right to reproductive health for Latinas, their families and their communities through education, advocacy and coalition building.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Ross, Loretta; GutiŽrrez, Elena; Gerber, Marlene; Silliman, Jael (2016-05-10). Undivided Rights: Women of Color Organizing for Reproductive Justice. Haymarket Books. ISBN   9781608466177.
  2. Nelson, Jennifer (2015-03-06). More Than Medicine: A History of the Feminist Women's Health Movement. NYU Press. ISBN   9780814762905.
  3. Manegold, Catherine S. (1992-07-19). "Abortion Foes See Tactics Backfire in New York". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2019-04-15.
  4. Scott, Bonnie Kime; Cayleff, Susan E.; Donadey, Anne; Lara, Irene (August 2016). Women in Culture: An Intersectional Anthology for Gender and Women's Studies. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN   9781118541128.
  5. Ross, Loretta; Derkas, Erika; Peoples, Whitney; Roberts, Lynn; Bridgewater, Pamela (2017-10-16). Radical Reproductive Justice: Foundation, Theory, Practice, Critique. Feminist Press at CUNY. ISBN   9781936932047.
  6. Ford Foundation Annual Report. Ford Foundation. 1997.