Abortion: Histories of Care, Resistance, and Reproductive Justice

This roundtable brings together scholars of abortion care, access, and resistance and spotlights histories of people who worked to ensure abortion access. Participants’ expertise spans the long history of maternal-fetal conflict, the criminalization of abortion pre-Roe, self-help initiatives, state efforts to control family-making, the history and work of abortion funds, clinic escorting, and campaigns to establish access to abortion pills. The conversation will foreground reproductive justice as a central framework for understanding struggles for autonomy, wellness, and community care. Recognizing that access to abortion and reproductive care is deeply tied to broader movements for disability rights, mental health equity, queer rights and healthcare, and pandemic resilience, this roundtable explores how collective care and community-driven strategies can counter systemic cycles of oppression and ill-being.