[ [link removed] ]The graphic reads, "Keep Black people safe. Fight for reproductive
justice. #NoDataForCops". The background image is a copy with binoculars.
In the binoculars is an image of a positive pregnancy test. The Color Of
Change logo is in the bottom corner.

John, 

Anti-abortion legislation is not pro-life; it’s pro-white supremacy.
Instead of opposing abortions in favor of programs that would protect
pregnant people and children, such as expanding social welfare services or
advocating for paid parental leave or universal healthcare, anti-abortion
activists often rely on violence to force birth without a safety net.
Organizations like the National Association for Christian Lawmakers (NACL)
have pushed for anti-abortion legislation that legalizes the bounty
hunting of people who seek abortions in other states.^1,2 In the United
States, white supremacist actors have often cloaked their hateful
movements in purported Christianity to deflect scrutiny from their true
motives.^3 And at the same time, tech companies like Facebook and Google
collect data that can be used by these hateful groups to enact
state-sanctioned violence. Last month, Facebook gave Nebraska law
enforcement access to the direct messages of a teenager who had an
abortion so that they could charge her with
“removing/concealing/abandoning [a] dead human body,” “concealing the
death of another person,” and “false reporting.”^4 She is at risk for
violence, harassment, and intimidation from anti-abortion extremists, some
of whom have even murdered abortion providers.^5 Due to the inherent
violence of these groups and the danger of weaponizing reproductive health
and outcomes data, companies must stop collecting this data and update
their policies on hate groups to include these anti-abortion groups.

[ [link removed] ]TELL TECH COMPANIES TO STOP BEING ACCOMPLICES FOR ANTI-ABORTION GROUPS

The criminalization of certain pregnancy outcomes is an act of coercive
reproductive control, one that furthers a white supremacist agenda. The
“great replacement” myth is a racist and anti-Semitic narrative that there
is an intentional effort to replace white populations in current
white-majority countries with historically oppressed populations.^6 It has
been the impetus for several mass shootings by white supremacists,
including the murder of 10 Black people in Buffalo, New York, on May 14,
2022.^7,8 This myth also drives the ongoing eugenics campaign in the
United States, which has included the forced sterilization of Black people
to limit the Black population.^9 In 1973, Mary Alice and Minnie
Relf—mentally disabled Black sisters—were only 14 and 12 years old when
they were coerced into sterilization. Their eventual lawsuit exposed how
federally funded programs threatened to take away
economically-disadvantaged people’s welfare benefits if those persons
declined sterilization.^10,11 The overlap between anti-abortion groups and
white supremacist and nationalist groups makes these abortion bans a
matter of life and death for Black people. 

Reproductive justice is “the human right to maintain personal bodily
autonomy, have children, not have children, and parent the children we
have in safe and sustainable communities.”^12 We know achieving
reproductive justice is neither just securing the right to an abortion nor
a single-issue struggle. The Black storytellers from our Liberated Bodies
campaign speak about the spectrum of barriers—from the inability to afford
an abortion to the physical distance to the nearest abortion provider—to
getting an immediate abortion and how accessing abortions contributed to
their autonomy.^13 Reproductive and economic justice are racial justice;
when our people achieve racial justice, we thrive.

Our bodily autonomy is central to our liberation. Corporations that serve
as accomplices to governments seeking to limit our bodily autonomy don’t
deserve peace. We have sent almost 3,000 postcards and are sending more to
corporations demanding that they center the needs of Black women, trans,
and non-binary people. Corporations must stop collecting private data and
start deplatforming anti-abortion groups so we can move closer to a world
where Black people have the freedom and safety to make decisions about our
own health and bodies without fear of surveillance or punishment.
Companies must always prioritize the safety and well-being of all Black
people, even when the law does not. 

[ [link removed] ]SEND A POSTCARD TO TECH COMPANIES NOW!

Until justice is real, 
—Jade Magnus Ogunnaike and the Color Of Change team

P.S. Please [ [link removed] ]donate to abortion funds and [ [link removed] ]learn how to keep your
reproductive decisions private and secure.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

References: 

 1. Caroline Kitchener and Devlin Barrett, “Antiabortion lawmakers want to
block patients from crossing state lines,” The Washington Post, June
30, 2022,
[ [link removed] ][link removed] 
 2. “NACL Model State Heartbeat Act,” National Association for Christian
Lawmakers, July 22, 2021,
[ [link removed] ][link removed] 
 3. Tom Gjelten, “White supremacists ideas have historical roots in U.S.
Christianity,” NPR, July 1, 2020,
[ [link removed] ][link removed] 
 4. Jason Koebler and Anna Merlan, “ This is the data Facebook gave police
to prosecute a teenager for abortion,” Vice, August 9, 2022,
[ [link removed] ][link removed] 
 5. “Anti-Abortion Violence,” NARAL,
[ [link removed] ][link removed]
 6. Jason Wilson and Aaron Flanagan, “The Racist ‘Great Replacement’
Conspiracy Theory Explained,” Southern Poverty Law Center, May 17,
2022,
[ [link removed] ][link removed] 
 7. Ibid.
 8. Carolyn Thompson, “Buffalo supermarket shooter arraigned on federal
charges,” AP News, July 18, 2022, 
[ [link removed] ][link removed] 
 9. Paola Alonso, “Autonomy Revoked: The Forced Sterilization of Women of
Color in 20th Century America,” Texas Women’s University,
[ [link removed] ][link removed] 
10. “Relf V. Weinberger,” Southern Poverty Law Center,
[ [link removed] ][link removed]
11. Ibid.
12. “Reproductive Justice,” Sister Song,
[ [link removed] ][link removed] 
13. “Liberated Bodies,” [ [link removed] ][link removed]



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