Reproduction after Roe: understanding reproductive justice advocacy and activism among young adults
OA Version
Citation
Abstract
This thesis addresses the question of how the Dobbs v. Jackson Supreme Court decision which overturned Roe v. Wade affected the young adults who are active within the reproductive justice (RJ) or reproductive rights (RR) movement. The goal of this research was to understand how those individuals believed the decision impacted their own health and well-being, as well as supply literature on how young adults configure their relationships with these social movements. In this thesis, I argue that the Dobbs v. Jackson decision had a broad impact on youth reproductive justice and/or reproductive rights (RJ/RR) activists and advocates’ (A&A) perceptions of their health and well-being. This event helped these individuals recognize how power structures disadvantaged people like them and how they could work together to counter them. In the third chapter, I contend that Dobbs v. Jackson affected young people’s mental health, as it made these individuals worry about potential barriers to abortion care now, but also the future access of other sexual and reproductive health services, like contraceptive care. I show how news coverage of these events amplified feelings of frustration around this Supreme Court decision. In the following chapter, I assert that most A&A feel disempowered by U.S. society and abortion politics, which is in direct conflict with their desire to exert agency or power over the situation. Next, I argue that language around abortion care and advocacy is essential in peoples’ development of beliefs and ideas around abortion politics. Here, I include a media analysis to support this assertion and to explain how the media is a tool to convey both the discourse and specific ideas regarding abortion care. Finally, I offer several potential policy solutions to address inequities in reproductive health care around abortion in the context of the United States.
Description
2024