Hey John, 

Don’t forget that Sunday is Mother’s Day! This Mother’s Day, I plan to honor the women and girls in my life by acting to protect Mother Earth.

One way we can make this happen is by first acknowledging the ways that environmental justice and reproductive justice are connected.

Both environmental justice and reproductive justice support the rights of women and their families to live, work, play, and learn in an environment that supports their health and gives them the ability to build their families and communities, if and how they choose.

And a fundamental pillar of reproductive justice is the right of any person to start and raise their family in safe and sustainable communities.

Climate change reshapes weather patterns, economies, social structures, and fundamentally alters the planet, therefore infringing on the rights that reproductive justice calls for.

Climate change affects us all, but it has a disproportionate impact on women and girls—more so if they are Black, Latinx, or Indigenous women and girls.

In fact, women stand to lose the most as climate change rages on. Climate change can impact the decisions women make about where they live and the services they are able to access, including healthcare, education, and high-quality jobs.

Here are some of the ways climate change can impact women’s health:

• Women are more likely to experience nutritional deficits, especially when pregnant or breastfeeding—which is exacerbated by climate change-induced food scarcity.
• Women are at a greater risk of experiencing domestic violence and sexual assault following natural disasters—with increases in the frequency and severity of natural disasters, women are at a greater risk than before.
• It can limit access to family planning services—which can help them decide when and how to have a family.

And those are only three examples of how climate change impacts women and girls differently.

Scary, right? That’s why I’m asking you to use this Mother’s Day to honor our planet, not only for us but for the women and girls in our lives and around the world.

One thing you can do is use this tool to call on the Trump administration to stop the continued rollbacks of critical environmental protections, especially during the COVID-19 crisis.

Lotanna Obodozie
Advocacy Associate
Generation Progress