More Than A Magazine, A Movement
On Sept. 30, 1976, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Hyde Amendment, which barred federal funds from covering abortions with the narrowest exceptions for rape, incest or threats to a patient’s life. As soon as Hyde went into effect, the number of Medicaid-covered abortions in the United States dropped from 300,000 to just a few thousand.
Abortion, like all healthcare, should be a human right—not merely a benefit of select insurance plans.
Overruling Roe v. Wade would be particularly devastating for those who comprise over 60 percent of abortion recipients: people of color.
Six months after the Atlanta spa shootings prompted a national conversation about anti-Asian hate in this country, we better understand how deeply systemic this violence is, especially for Asian American women. AAPI women and girls are subject to anti-Asian racism and misogyny.
AAPI women have experienced high rates of harassment and violence as a result of dehumanizing stereotypes, affecting them at home and in the workplace. Asian American women’s experience with violence often is overlooked as reporting services struggle to meet their needs, often linguistically and culturally, which are critical in providing adequate support to victims of abuse.
The shooting in Atlanta prompted some action from policymakers to combat anti-Asian discrimination levied against women and girls. But we need sustained, long-term investment in our communities that is built in partnership with AAPI women. Because threats against us did not start in 2020.
The House Committee on Oversight and Reform published findings from its investigation on for-profit ICE detention facilities, revealing horrific conditions and medical neglect that led to four preventable deaths.
But as alarming as the findings are, these human rights abuses are not new. Immigrants in detention and their loved ones have been telling us about the harm caused by the U.S. immigration system for years.
As an immigrant woman, I am proud to have raised my own child in the United States. I know that to achieve true access to abortion, we need a government that works on solutions that reflect the needs of families like mine.
When young Asian immigrant women like Purvi Patel and Bei Bei Shuai are being criminalized for the outcomes of their pregnancies, all of us should be asking ourselves what more must be done to achieve reproductive justice—and not just secure our reproductive rights.
The idea that Asian Americans and Pacific Islander women are a monolith is not only inaccurate, it’s irresponsible—and it’s hurting our chances at getting equal pay.
The AAPI community has been facing a quiet struggle with birth control use and safe sex—a problem only exacerbated by the Trump administration’s efforts to limit access to birth control and promote abstinence-only sex education and the threat of a more conservative Supreme Court.
As we celebrate progress for mothers in elected office, let’s not forget all the work that still needs to be done to make paid family leave a reality for every woman in the U.S.
