It's not quite accurate to say that "reproductive rights" is a euphemism for abortion access in the USA. If you go to rallies and listen, you'll hear a lot of talk about access to contraception also being at risk, based on our history.
Contraception was widely illegal in the USA starting in the 1870s into the 1930s. but even then, some states continued to prohibit the use of contraception. It wasn't until 1965 that the Supreme Court ruled that the government ruled that states could not prevent married couples from using contraception, as was the case in Connecticut at the time. It wasn't until 1972 that the Supreme Court did the same for unmarried couples.
That's only one year before Roe vs. Wade legalized abortion nationwide.
The people who remember what it was like before these things were legal are aging, but they often warn that the overturn of abortion access is a slippery slope. The goals of many political movements opposed to abortion don't stop there. Many would also like to ban contraception.
In that sense, "reproductive rights" are synonymous with abortion because that's what's still contentious. After enough time has passed for illegal abortion to become the norm, that's when the slope can start slipping towards contraceptives. Reproductive rights supporters know this, and are fighting not just for abortion, but for many other rights as well.
And that includes the right to have children. In modern days, that's most commonly seen in the fight for IVF, but it also includes the right against forced sterilization.
"Reproductive rights" is a movement that doesn't say "we want to kill babies", but rather that "the government has no business whatsoever in individual reproductive decisions or health." It's not just about abortion.
Contraception was widely illegal in the USA starting in the 1870s into the 1930s. but even then, some states continued to prohibit the use of contraception. It wasn't until 1965 that the Supreme Court ruled that the government ruled that states could not prevent married couples from using contraception, as was the case in Connecticut at the time. It wasn't until 1972 that the Supreme Court did the same for unmarried couples.
That's only one year before Roe vs. Wade legalized abortion nationwide.
The people who remember what it was like before these things were legal are aging, but they often warn that the overturn of abortion access is a slippery slope. The goals of many political movements opposed to abortion don't stop there. Many would also like to ban contraception.
In that sense, "reproductive rights" are synonymous with abortion because that's what's still contentious. After enough time has passed for illegal abortion to become the norm, that's when the slope can start slipping towards contraceptives. Reproductive rights supporters know this, and are fighting not just for abortion, but for many other rights as well.
And that includes the right to have children. In modern days, that's most commonly seen in the fight for IVF, but it also includes the right against forced sterilization.
"Reproductive rights" is a movement that doesn't say "we want to kill babies", but rather that "the government has no business whatsoever in individual reproductive decisions or health." It's not just about abortion.