Reproductive health is also a labor issue

Abortion bans are not just about abortion. (“La. makes abortion drugs controlled substances,” May 25)

Lawmakers have criminalized possession of a womb. Forbidding access to health care is deadly. The September 2021 Texas abortion ban abets those looking for women seeking to end a pregnancy and anyone who aids them. The June 24, 2022, U.S. Supreme Court decision overturning legal abortion, puts lives in jeopardy. Current Louisiana legislation against pills that end a pregnancy or treat its complications widens the net for criminal charges, suspicion and fear. Everything from contraceptives to gender affirming care and IVF is on the line.

Meanwhile, resources for safe and accessible pre-natal, birthing and postpartum care are often non-existent. Black women die disproportionally from birth complications and many rural areas are deserts for reproductive and pediatric healthcare.

Reproductive health care, in all its aspects, like child care, is a labor issue. If we can’t control when and if we can safely have children, how do we plan for education, employment and union and community involvement?

The National Mobilization for Reproductive Justice ( ReproJusticeNow.org ) and Coalition of Labor Union Women ( cluw.org ) are asking AFL-CIO national leaders to hold an emergency federation-sponsored national labor conference in defense of reproductive justice. To that end, 600 hundred unions, labor groups and union members have signed an “Open Letter to Liz Shuler, President AFL-CIO.”

The AFL-CIO’s multi-hued ranks are among the essential workers who got us through the COVID-19 pandemic. They have the expertise, guts and tenacity to strategize a national and regional fightback.

A full-scale, multi-pronged defense is needed because abortion bans are not just about abortion—they are about control of women’s lives and economic futures.

Mary Ann Curtis

Naperville