Reproductive Justice and Women's Rights — Chris Bennett for Congress

Protect children and reproductive freedoms.

SisterSong, the Black women-led collective that founded the reproductive justice movement, defines reproductive justice as the human right to maintain personal bodily autonomy, have children, not have children, and parent the children we have in safe and sustainable communities. Their framework is tremendously helpful in reshaping our conversations around bodily autonomy. Reproductive justice is broader than the legal right to an abortion, though that right is essential. It includes everything that makes it possible for people to make free, informed, decisions about their bodies, their families, and their futures.

Horrifying cases like Cherise Doyley's, a Black woman in Florida who was forced into a court hearing on Zoom while in labor and told by a judge that she must undergo a C-section birth, are a window into the nightmares women face in today’s United States. The right wing has sustained an assault on bodily rights, and now they’ve set their eyes on banning mifepristone, medication abortions, and even contraceptives in general. We can’t just defend against these attacks – we have to boldly fight for broader, more comprehensive reproductive justice.

Recognizing The Right to Decide Not to Have a Child

Women's rights must begin with the right to control their own bodies. The overturning of Roe and the implementation of state-level abortion bans have produced precisely the harms that advocates predicted: women denied miscarriage care, women forced to carry non-viable pregnancies, women criminalized for their own medical decisions, and a growing surveillance apparatus aimed at people seeking reproductive healthcare.

I will fight for federal legislation, such as the Women's Health Protection Act, guaranteeing the right to abortion nationwide, full coverage of contraception and reproductive care under any federal healthcare program, protection of the right to travel for care, and legal shields for providers who serve patients from states with bans. Reproductive freedom is not negotiable.

Safeguarding the Right to Have a Child

For many people, reproductive justice means the ability to have children when they want them, with the medical care, support, and dignity that requires. I support expanded access to fertility treatments, including IVF, and I oppose every effort to restrict them, whether through state legislation, personhood arguments applied to embryos, or insurance exclusions that put these treatments out of reach for working people.

I also support dramatically expanded federal funding for research into conditions that disproportionately affect women, including polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and endometriosis. These conditions affect millions of people, cause significant pain and infertility, and remain chronically under-studied because women's pain has historically been dismissed by the medical establishment. Increased research funding is long overdue.

Maternal health belongs here as well. The United States has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the developed world. Black women die from pregnancy-related causes at several times the rate of white women. This is a public health emergency that is the direct product of bias in medicine, under-resourced hospitals in Black and rural communities, and a healthcare system that treats birth as a commodity rather than a right. The Cherise Doyley case is one data point in that larger crisis.

Respecting the Right to Parent in Safe and Sustainable Communities

The third pillar of reproductive justice is the right to raise children in safety and security. That right has been undermined by decades of policy choices that have made it harder for working families to afford housing, healthcare, childcare, and the basic conditions of a decent life.

As a member of Congress, I’ll fight for an influx of federal funds to support universal childcare. No family should have to choose between a parent working and a child being cared for. I will fight for paid family leave for every worker, so that people can actually be present for the early months of their children's lives without losing their jobs or going broke. The broader themes of my campaign also directly promote the wellbeing of children: good jobs, livable wages, healthcare, and strong communities are crucial to promoting reproductive justice.

Stopping Domestic Violence and Promoting Healthier Masculinity

Domestic violence comes, in large part, from the harmful ways we socialize children and treat people of different genders and identities. Women and girls are expected to be caregivers and are raised from birth to be that way. Men and boys are expected to be independent, violent, and emotionally stunted, which leaves many of us without the ability to empathize with others or express ourselves in healthy ways. That socialization is a choice, and it can be unlearned.

I want to be a good role model for men and boys as someone who has worked through bad socialization and come out the other side. My broader platform is designed to strengthen communities, which significantly reduces all forms of violent crime by prioritizing people's basic needs and supporting local economies. A country where people can meet their basic needs, feel connected to their neighbors, and see healthier models of masculinity is a country with less domestic violence, less community violence, and less of the isolation that fuels both.

Enshrining These Rights