The Trump administration, following the guidance of the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025, seeks to control women’s reproduction. This includes restricting access to birth control and abolishing abortion while policing the pregnancies of particularly poor white women and women of color. At the same time that the administration is encouraging white women to have more babies as part of a traditional (‘trad’ wives) view of women’s role in society limited to wife and mother, it also seeks to exclude reproduction among women of color.
For example, prominent pronatalists talk about “declining genetic quality” in the United States, or the importance of engineering,” ideas deeply entrenched in white nationalism and the racist fake science of eugenics. (National Women’s Law Center)
The dramatic enlargement of the operations of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has sown fear in pregnant undocumented Latinas, to the point where many are avoiding pre-natal checkups. The stress these women experience is also taking its toll on the health of their babies. This has led to babies with low birth weight and miscarriage and death.
Truthout.org reported on an investigation conducted by Sen. Jon Ossoff’s office (D-Georgia) into rampant human rights violations committed against immigrants in detention. The investigation revealed that pregnant women in detention have been gravely mistreated. They have been denied adequate medical care, timely checkups, and sufficient food. A partner of a pregnant woman in DHS custody said that the woman bled for days before she was taken to the hospital, where “she was reportedly left in a room, alone, to miscarry without water or medical assistance, for over 24 hours.”
Several cases of mistreatment were reported from detainees in Basile, Louisiana, and Lumpkin, Georgia. “These women reported shackling, use of restraints, and solitary confinement.” One detainee says she suffered “severe infection” after miscarrying. One woman experienced heavy vaginal bleeding and cramping in the middle of the night. Despite requesting immediate attention, she wasn’t seen by a medical worker until a day later, who put her in a small room where she bled for hours without food, water, or pain medication. She was transported to a hospital with her arms and legs restrained, where she was told she had miscarried. If the administration was concerned about the babies these women could give birth to, this wouldn’t be happening. (From an article by Jezebel)
Regarding Black women, according to KFF.org, the primary causes of infant mortality are birth defects, preterm birth and low birthweight, sudden infant death syndrome, injuries, and maternal pregnancy complications. Infant mortality rates have declined over time. However, disparities in infant mortality have persisted. As of 2022, infants born to Black women are over twice as likely to die relative to those born to White women. Again, if the Trump administration cared about the babies these women could give birth to, this would be addressed.
How are women responding to the attacks on women’s control over their reproduction? Women are supporting organizations helping women get abortions. They support organizations giving women of color reproductive help. Women are some of the most vocal opponents of ICE lockups (where pregnant women are kept). Also, women are rebelling against imposed sexual roles. There has been a marked increase in the number of women choosing to remain single, rather than be squeezed into a way of life imposed by men who want to take away their freedoms.
Karel Riley works with the People’s Tribune, and its bilingual sister publication, Tribuno del Pueblo, as a writer and contributor on human rights and women’s issues. “I’ve been a feminist since early adulthood. As a clerical worker, I joined a union drive with AFSCME seeking comparable wages to men for female-dominated jobs, and we were partially successful. In the mid-80’s our union participated in the historic Hormel strike in Minnesota. Later, I joined others in support of a local welfare rights organization,” she says.
