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African-American Women And Abortion
Loretta J. Ross
Only justice can stop a curse.
-- Alice Walker

This essay reviews the activism of African-American women in the abortion rights movement, highlighting the past fifty years.1 Many observers mistakenly view African-American women's struggle for abortion rights and reproductive freedom in the 1990s as reflecting a relatively recent commitment. More accurately, this activism should be placed in the context of our historical struggle against racism, sexism, and poverty.
The fact is, when methods of fertility control have been available and accessible, African-American women have advocated for and used these strategies even more frequently than their white counterparts.2 For example, when family Planning was first institutionalized in Louisiana in 1965, Black women were six times more likely than white women to sign up for contraception.3
But when contraceptives were unavailable and abortion was illegal, septic abortions were......

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Approximate Word Count: 17808
Approximate Pages: 72 (250 words per double-spaced page)

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