What are the Impacts of Roe V Wade on Indigenous Women?
The Impacts of Roe V. Wade on Indigenous Communities, and a History of Restrictive Bodily Autonomy for Indigenous Women.
Introduction
The decision to overturn Roe V Wade, which was put into place to protect women’s abortion rights, will change the course of bodily autonomy for women across the United States. This federal repeal now gives individual states in the US the legal jurisdiction to impose their own abortion laws. These laws will vary depending on each state - 13 states already have policies on abortion, which have been effective immediately. Countless additional states will most likely follow suit in the near future.
Indigenous women are disproportionately impacted by restrictive abortion and bodily autonomy laws.
According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Protection (CDC), Indigenous women are two to three times more likely to die as a result of their pregnancy than white women. In addition, Indigenous women face extremely high rates of violence and domestic abuse. More than one in three Indigenous women have faced violence in the past year, including sexual violence and domestic abuse. (2016 National Institute of Justice) In fact, Indigenous women are 1.7 times more likely to be victims of violence than white women.
“For those in an abusive relationship, not having access to an abortion could force the victim to stay in a bad situation and lead to more violence.” (Echo-Hawk)
A History of Restrictive Bodily Autonomy for Indigenous Women
Indigenous women in the United States and Canada have undergone coerced and forced sterilization for countless years, primarily during the 20th century. The lasting impacts of sterilization have caused a greater mistrust in the justice system, and centuries of healing and trauma for Indigenous women. (To learn more, please read our articles on a Brief History of Sterilization Against Indigenous Women in the US and Forced and Coerced Sterilization of Indigenous Women).
“Native people are still dealing with the trauma of colonization, historic violence against Native people, forced sterilizations, Indian child removal and boarding schools … being forced to carry pregnancy is a really traumatic thing, whether that is a pregnancy that resulted from assault or not. And now we’ll have another generation with that trauma to carry on.” (Kerri Colfer)
With the repeal of Roe V Wade, Indigenous women have been further subjected to a restriction of their basic reproductive rights, an issue that has been going on for years, especially when it comes to Indigenous communities.
The IHS, and a Longstanding History of Abortion Restrictions
The Indian Health Services (IHS) provides healthcare services to over 2.6 million Indigenous peoples. However, the IHS restricts abortions available to Indigenous women. They are only allowed to undergo abortions in cases of rape, (if reported within 60 days), incest, and if the mother’s life is at risk.
This means that even prior to the repeal of Roe V Wade, hundreds of thousands of Indigenous women did not have full access to abortions as compared to non-Indigenous women.
“Echo-Hawk, who was a co-author of an amicus brief submitted to the supreme court on this issue last year, said as part of that effort, her organization looked at 33 IHS-funded facilities. They found that between 2002 and 2021, only seven Indigenous women were documented as visiting an IHS facility for an abortion.” (The Guardian)
This means that many Indigenous women sought out abortions outside of the IHS facilities, due to their restrictive policies. With the repeal of Roe V Wade, Indigenous women living in impacted areas would have to travel much further outside their state to access an abortion clinic. However, countless Indigenous women who live below the poverty line struggle to have the proper funds to do so.
Action Items
Indigenous Women Rising is an Indigenous-led organization focused on supporting Indigenous women, especially when it comes to their reproductive rights. They have helped, and continue to help countless Indigenous women to have access to proper abortion funds, including travel, food, and stay. You can donate to Indigenous Women Rising to help support them in raising funds for Indigenous women.
Sources:
https://amp.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/may/19/roe-v-wade-indigenous-women-increase-violence
