Issues - Intersections of Our Lives

Introduction

Women and gender expansive people of color are facing the deadly consequences of restrictive abortion laws, aggressive anti-immigrant policies, rising discrimination, and increased barriers to accessing life-saving health care. These harms are compounded by systemic inequities that have long kept health, safety, and prosperity out of reach for many in this country.

To address this urgent reality, our policy agenda provides the tools to build a society where we can all make decisions about our bodies and futures without fear or restriction, focusing on three key pillars of reproductive justice—healthy body, healthy families and communities, and healthy democracy.

Issues We're Fighting For

Healthy Body

Healthy body policies are foundational to reproductive justice, which is rooted in the principle that we all have the right to make informed and autonomous decisions about our body and reproductive health.

We advocate for contraceptive equity, comprehensive sexual education, and safe abortion access to ensure that all women can access essential health services without discrimination or undue barriers and are empowered to manage their reproductive health based on informed choice rather than economic or social constraints.

Additionally, we advance policies that support gender-affirming care and oppose the criminalization of our bodies. These policies align with the values of reproductive justice by ensuring that everyone, regardless of gender identity or socioeconomic status, can live with dignity and control their reproductive and sexual health without fear of coercion or violence. This approach not only promotes health equity but also strives to dismantle systemic barriers to wellness, supporting the broader social justice goals of empowerment and inclusivity.

Healthy Families & Communities

Our work to support healthy families and communities is focused on strengthening the social and economic foundations that ensure women have the support they need, which creates an environment where empowered reproductive choices are possible. We advance policies that support all families, regardless of color, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, or immigration or marital status.

Supporting healthy families and communities includes advocating for policies that ensure equitable access to health care, such as the HEAL (Health Equity and Access under the Law) for Immigrant Families Act, which removes legal and policy barriers to health insurance coverage for immigrants and their families.

It also includes addressing the wage gap because economic security empowers women to plan for their families and manage their reproductive health without undue financial burden.

Additionally, we advocate for policies that address the stark inequities in maternal health outcomes for women of color. By investing in maternal health, we invest in the health and well-being of entire communities.

Collectively, these efforts foster a society where women of color can thrive free from the constraints of socio-economic and health disparities.

Healthy Democracy

To sustain a strong and healthy democracy, we advance policies that eliminate barriers to participation by women of color and ensure we are granted full and equal rights and opportunities to engage in civic life.

This includes advocating for robust voting rights to ensure that all voices are heard in the political process and that elected officials are accountable to their voting base.

We also advocate for a fair and just legal system, including comprehensive judicial reform, which is critical to dismantling systemic biases that disproportionately impact communities of color.

In this work, we honor the courage and persistence of the women of color who came before us and fought against unjust laws and practices put in place to deny and discourage their right to participate in our democracy. Inspired by the boldness and bravery of these women, we foster visibility and build power for women of color in our communities through leadership development initiatives and civic education and engagement programs.