The fragility of our democracy is most deeply experienced by the people pushed to the margins of our society. People of color, trans people, disabled, and poor communities have always been the most susceptible to oppression at the hands of the very systems that should be supporting them. Yet, any person in the United States who has ever felt concern about pregnancy, maternal and fetal healthcare, birthing, and caregiving has known that reproductive justice has teetered on the edge of collapse depending on who we are, where we live, our income–all of which determine our access to sex and health education, preventative care, and mental health support and services. So much of our history and too much of our present is mired in control–of our bodies; the books and curricula we can access; professional opportunities that lead to generational wealth; the basic human rights of guaranteed housing and healthcare–by people who are well-protected by systems and institutions that were created with their safety, dignity, comfort, and privilege in mind. 

What rarely happens is asking those most impacted by policy what they think, what it means for their lives, and how we can and should do better. National Crittenton has a long history of addressing root causes in systems change, and centering the communities most impacted by systems doing harm. In Our Words curates the reproductive justice conversation among girls, young women, and gender-expansive young people of color who are already parenting, who are not yet ready to parent, who need healthcare simply because it is a necessity, and who will not remain silent as their most basic human rights are stripped away by people in positional power so far removed from the reality of their lives and the needs of their communities. 

Read the report here.
View the informational webinar below.