By Kema Čabanová and Charlotte Hitzfelder
In the future, every human life counts equally. All people, regardless of origin, class, and gender, have the same legal rights, free access to self-determination, and thus free choice over their bodies.
In 2048 there will be: a right to safe, self-determined, free access to pregnancy and abortion for all people, free contraceptives, diverse sexual education and many different family models.
In 2048 there will no longer be: Information restrictions regarding medical interventions, borders, development aid and population policy – which (disguised as climate protection) come at the expense of the self-determination of women and Queers in the global South. There are no longer any stigmas or social attributions about who should or should not have a child and what a family should look like.
Reproductive justice is a concept developed by Black women in the United States in 1994, which brings together the experiences, knowledge, and analyses from their struggles for social justice and reproductive rights. To become pregnant, people need comprehensive healthcare, sufficient knowledge, money, a legal framework, and protection in the form of accommodation and food. The same applies to people seeking abortions. The question of self-determination cannot be discussed without considering the sociopolitical framework.
Marginalized people in particular experience discrimination on several levels. For example, white A woman in Germany has better access to a self-determined abortion than a Black migrant woman with an uncertain residency status. A trans man's desire to have a child is significantly stigmatized by the healthcare system, the legal system, and society. Overall, a number of factors, such as economic circumstances, migration, climate change, gender, and disability, hinder the possibility of making self-determined decisions about one's own body.
Our preview of Reproductive rights are primarily struggles for the right to a safe and legal abortion (cf. pro choice fights) – an important but above all through white Feminist concern. The concept of Reproductive justice is also based on two further principles: firstly, the right to decide to have children and to receive the necessary support and secondly, the right to have children in to raise children under self-chosen circumstances.
Pioneers in the field are the members of the “SisterSong – Women of Color Reproductive Justice Collective”, which was founded in North America in the 90s. Today, many networks and organizations of women and queers of color around the world are working in the field of reproductive justice. We have compiled some of their perspectives in this blog post.
Our Vision
In 2048, we live in a world full of joy, pleasure, bodily autonomy, integrity, and freedom. We have created a new foundation for future generations, enabling a dignified life in diverse family models, with or without children. The necessary resources are distributed fairly. The system of global reproductive justice is supported by a strong global network of broad queer feminist alliances that jointly develop sociopolitical analyses and demands. Marginalized people from the Global South, in particular, are heard and are an integral part of movement work and analyses at the international level.
Ethical questions surrounding reproductive medicine are discussed at roundtables based on scientific evidence and with the participation of all interest groups. Local movement actors are lobbying governments for legislative changes and developing drafts for new laws. These guarantee reproductive health services. Self-determination is becoming the new basis for bodily autonomy for all people, regardless of skin color, gender, origin, social status, and sexual orientation. The old discriminatory and human rights-violating laws have been abolished worldwide.
The new legislation allows for the legal safeguarding of diverse family models. This means that parenthood can also be shared among several people. Trans* parenthood and single parenthood are legally possible and treated equally to the heteronormative nuclear family model. Foster care and adoption procedures are non-discriminatory. This also includes self-chosen housing arrangements (see the chapter on housing) and a fairer distribution of (care) work (see the chapter on work and social guarantees). Family reunification and freedom of movement for all are also legally guaranteed (see the chapter on freedom of movement).
The new legal foundation and the strengthened global network advocating for reproductive justice worldwide enable us to make free decisions about the shape of our bodies, families, and communities. We are able to make these decisions independent of financial and existential concerns, societal norms, and restrictive laws. We dare to ask ourselves intimately: "What do I want for myself and my body?" We are assured that, no matter how we choose, we will receive sufficient support. We are assured that care work will be brought together in our community.
The entire healthcare system has been transformed to ensure equal medical care for all. The self-governing health centers (formerly hospitals) offer self-determined and free medical care for all (see the chapter on health). In terms of reproductive justice, this means self-determined, free, and informed access to abortion and contraception, as well as to assisted reproduction, for all people, regardless of skin color, gender, origin, social status, and sexual orientation.
The training of doctors and all healthcare professionals has also been fundamentally restructured. Regarding reproductive rights, much more is taught about contraceptive options and abortion. For trained gynecologists, abortion is considered equal to all other medical procedures. Involuntary sterilizations and gender reassignment surgeries are prohibited. To ensure quality basic care for everyone worldwide, medical knowledge and research results are shared globally.
And the way there?
There's still a long way to go before we can achieve the right to self-determination and free choice over our own bodies. But the course for the future is already being set today. Here are a few ideas for how society could change:
Making use of crises: the COVID pandemic promotes the visibility of diverse family models
The traditional family model consisting of father, mother, and child(ren) has been faltering for years, but especially during the pandemic. Daycare centers and schools have had to close temporarily due to recurring COVID outbreaks. Childcare is thus shifted entirely to the home. Parents, however, must continue to work and also manage full-time childcare. This double burden is pushing families to the limits of their capacity and beyond. The pandemic shows that uncles and aunts, grandparents, neighbors, partners, and friends take on care work and are thus also part of families. One thing is clear: caring for one another functions primarily through diverse relationships and is not limited to custody. The best friend plays with the child for two hours, the uncle cooks, and homework is done together at the neighbor's house. Multi-parenting, patchwork, or rainbow families, in which more than two people share care work, are not a niche phenomenon; they were already part of everyday life for a large segment of the population before the pandemic.
Workers are addressing the double burden in their unions and making their voices heard. These unions are taking the demand for recognition of diverse family models into politics. On March 8, 2022, the international feminist strike day, FLINTA people took to the streets worldwide. The focus was on the demand for recognition of diverse family models, which was established at one of the transnational digital movement meetings. In Mexico City alone, 60.000 people took to the streets despite the pandemic, observing social distancing rules. Protests are also taking place in many other countries around the world. The media are reporting impressively on the diverse protests, and no one can ignore the issue anymore.
Due to pressure from the streets and labor associations, politicians are realizing that they need to adapt their family policy: As a first step, applying for childcare allowance will be made easier. This allows best friends or fathers to easily apply for childcare allowance – an important first step towards redistributing financial resources. As a result, reproductive medicine will be gradually adapted over the next five years: Fertility treatments will also be available for unmarried, disabled, and queer people, as well as for women who consciously choose to have a child without a partner.
Strong global feminist movement
The pandemic shows the importance of a globally networked movement. In the coming years, this movement will grow ever closer together worldwide. Digital networking meetings will become more accessible, even if not everyone has access to the internet yet. The annual global feminist assemblies focus on the voices of young feminists, especially from the Global South. Over the next decade, the movement will formulate a shared, positive vision of freedom, self-determination, and joy that recognizes the respective contexts. The redistribution of financial resources from development cooperation will strengthen global networks. From 2040 onwards, the wealthy countries of the Global North will no longer decide how the funds are distributed, but rather the recipient countries in the Global South. Because the feminist movement has grown significantly globally during this time, it has a major influence on the distribution.
Legal, safe and free abortions
In the past decades, 50 countries worldwide have already Abortion law liberalized. This was largely the result of massive social pressure and the perseverance of feminist movements. The success, most recently in Argentina in 2020, inspired many feminist movements worldwide and strengthened their local struggles. Through global networking, organizational strategies and campaign knowledge are exchanged. Critical medical professionals, such as Doctors For Choice, are joining the calls, demanding decriminalization of the procedure and threatening a global general strike. Since healthcare is reaching its limits in many countries, politicians are keen to prevent doctors from striking. By 2048, there will be only a few countries left where in which abortions are criminalized.
Feminists are a strong voice in the media
These social changes are accompanied by diverse feminist voices on social media platforms such as Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok. Where internet access exists, feminists use social media to broadcast their demands to the world. Videos are making diverse realities of life increasingly visible. Journalists are taking up these topics and incorporating them into their reporting.
Political and legal restructuring using Germany as an example
At the end of 2021, a new government consisting of a social democratic, green, and liberal coalition was formed in Germany. Many young feminists were elected to the Bundestag. As a result, the coalition agreement includes the introduction of a self-determination law, which is intended to replace the existing transsexual law. Intersex, transgender, and non-binary people thus have the right to have their self-defined gender officially recognized without bureaucratic or medical hurdles. This has been the case in Argentina since 2012. Many other countries have followed suit, including Sweden, Norway, Colombia, South Australia, Malta, and Taiwan. These developments will increase the pressure on other countries in the coming years. to adapt their legal system.
The aforementioned coalition is also reforming Germany's parentage and adoption laws, strengthening the parental rights of lesbian and transgender couples. These measures and legislative amendments will be implemented by 2024.