Global Reproductive Justice: A New Agenda for Feminist Economics

Introduction: The Paradigm Shift from Choice to Justice

The 2022 Dobbs v. Jackson decision by the U.S. Supreme Court, which overturned Roe v. Wade, marks not only a regression in reproductive rights in the United States but highlights the fragility of reproductive freedom globally. This event has both drawn attention to the precarity of hard-fought gains and galvanized the global reproductive health community to protect abortion rights. However, as this paper argues, focusing solely on abortion rights is insufficient. We need a broader framework—reproductive justice—to understand and address the complexities of reproductive freedom.

The concept of reproductive justice originated in June 1994, when twelve Black feminists recognized that “equality” within the context of rights oftentimes did not shift the imbalance of economic resources to favor the powerless, and that women of color, especially poor black women, were still disenfranchised. They spliced together the concepts of “reproductive rights” and “social justice” to coin the neologism “reproductive justice.”

The Feminist Economics Perspective

Beyond Individual Choice

Traditional economic frameworks tend to view abortion decisions as matters of individual choice, based on cost-benefit analysis and rational choice theory. However, feminist economics challenges this simplified understanding, arguing that reproductive decisions are deeply embedded in social, economic, and political structures.

Feminist economics emphasizes that the concept of “choice” itself is problematic. When women face economic poverty, lack of healthcare, limited educational opportunities, or live in violent relationships, to what extent are their “choices” truly free? This is not to deny women’s agency, but to recognize how structural constraints shape and limit available options.

Unpaid Labor and Reproductive Decisions

A central contribution of feminist economics is its analysis of unpaid care work. Reproductive decisions are inextricably linked to the distribution of unpaid labor. In most societies, women bear a disproportionate burden of childcare and housework. This unpaid labor limits their ability to participate in paid work, affects their economic independence, and consequently influences their reproductive choices.

For example, lack of affordable childcare may make it impossible for women to work and raise children simultaneously, forcing them to make a false choice between career and motherhood. Similarly, absence of paid maternity leave or family-friendly work policies may make motherhood economically unfeasible, even for women who want children.

The Capabilities Approach and Reproductive Justice

From Functionings to Capabilities

This paper proposes adopting Amartya Sen’s capabilities approach to understand reproductive justice. This approach focuses not on what people actually do (functionings) but on what they have real opportunities to do (capabilities). In the context of reproductive health, this means focusing not just on whether women have children, but whether they have genuine freedom to make these decisions.

The capabilities approach helps us understand that reproductive justice is not merely about access to abortion or contraception. It involves a range of interconnected capabilities: the ability to receive education, access healthcare, be free from violence, participate in political decision-making, and lead a life one values.

The Role of Conversion Factors

The capabilities approach also emphasizes the importance of “conversion factors”—personal, social, and environmental characteristics that convert resources into functionings. In the context of reproductive justice, conversion factors might include:

Personal factors: Age, health status, education level, reproductive health knowledge.

Social factors: Gender norms, religious beliefs, family structure, social stigma, legal frameworks.

Environmental factors: Medical infrastructure, geographic location, transportation accessibility, environmental pollution.

Understanding how these conversion factors interact is crucial for designing policies that promote reproductive justice.

Reproductive Justice in Global Perspective

Transnational Inequalities

Reproductive justice must be understood in a global context. Enormous gaps exist in reproductive health outcomes between rich and poor countries. Maternal mortality differentials—over 100 times higher in some sub-Saharan African countries than in Scandinavian countries—reflect not just unequal healthcare access but broader social and economic inequalities.

Furthermore, global economic policies, such as structural adjustment programs and austerity measures, have profound impacts on reproductive health services. When public health systems are cut, women often bear the brunt, as they depend more heavily on these services for reproductive health needs.

Colonial Legacies and Contemporary Impacts

The global dimension of reproductive justice must also consider colonialism’s legacy and neocolonialism’s ongoing effects. Reproductive health policies and practices in many former colonies remain influenced by institutions and ideologies introduced during colonial periods.

For example, restrictive abortion laws in many African and Asian countries are remnants of colonial legal systems. These laws are often more restrictive than current laws in former colonial powers, creating an ironic situation where former colonies lag behind their former colonizers in reproductive rights.

In-Depth Analysis of Economic Dimensions

Economic Costs of Reproductive Health

Feminist economic analysis reveals hidden economic costs of reproductive health inequalities. When women cannot control their fertility, the economic consequences are profound:

Individual level: Unintended pregnancies may force women to exit education or the labor market, leading to lifetime income losses. Research shows that women who can delay childbearing until completing education have significantly higher lifetime earnings.

Household level: Large family sizes, particularly with limited resources, may perpetuate poverty. When families cannot control birth timing and spacing, they may struggle to invest in each child’s education and health.

Societal level: High fertility rates and maternal mortality burden health systems, reducing resources available for other development priorities. The World Bank estimates that meeting unmet family planning needs could significantly boost economic growth.

Marketization and Commodification

Increasing marketization of reproductive health services raises important questions about access and equity. When reproductive health is viewed as a commodity rather than a right, access depends on ability to pay rather than need.

This commodification manifests in multiple forms: private fertility clinics serving the wealthy while the poor struggle to access basic reproductive health services; surrogacy markets where women from the Global South carry pregnancies for Northern clients; and differential access to prenatal testing and sex selection technologies based on ability to pay.

The Necessity of Intersectional Analysis

Race, Class, and Reproductive Justice

The reproductive justice movement originated from Black and women of color feminists’ critique of mainstream (White) feminism’s treatment of “Women” as a single homogenous group. They argued that mainstream spotlighting of contraceptive and abortion rights did not entirely represent the interests of women who were not White and/or from the middle class.

For example, while white middle-class women might focus primarily on the right to access abortion, women of color and poor women also face issues of forced sterilization, lack of reproductive healthcare in prisons, and environmental racism affecting reproductive health.

Disability and Reproductive Justice

Women with disabilities are often marginalized in reproductive justice discussions. They face unique challenges including: assumptions about their fertility and parenting abilities; historical and ongoing risks of forced sterilization and contraception; barriers to accessing reproductive health services, including physical and attitudinal barriers; lack of information about disability and reproductive health.

The reproductive justice framework must include the experiences and perspectives of women with disabilities, recognizing their right to have children or not have children, like anyone else.

Policy Implications and Recommendations

Comprehensive Policy Approaches

Based on insights from feminist economics and the capabilities approach, this paper proposes comprehensive policy approaches to promote reproductive justice:

Universal healthcare: Ensuring everyone can access comprehensive reproductive health services regardless of ability to pay.

Economic support: Providing child allowances, paid family leave, and affordable childcare to support those who choose to have children.

Education investment: Ensuring everyone, particularly girls and women, can access education, including comprehensive sex education.

Legal reform: Repealing laws that restrict reproductive choices and enacting laws that protect reproductive rights.

Addressing structural inequalities: Tackling racism, classism, ableism, and other forms of oppression that limit reproductive freedom.

Global Solidarity and Cooperation

Achieving reproductive justice requires global solidarity and cooperation. This includes:

Resource transfer: Transferring resources from rich to poor countries to support reproductive health services.

Knowledge sharing: Sharing best practices and innovative approaches to promote reproductive justice.

Policy coordination: Coordinating international policies to support rather than undermine reproductive rights.

Resisting rollbacks: Standing together against attempts to restrict reproductive rights, wherever they occur.

Future Research Directions

Methodological Innovations

New methodological approaches are needed to fully capture the complexity of reproductive justice. This might include:

Mixed methods research: Combining quantitative and qualitative methods to understand economic and social dimensions of reproductive decisions.

Participatory research: Involving affected communities in the research process to ensure their voices and experiences are central.

Longitudinal studies: Tracking individuals and communities over time to understand long-term impacts of reproductive decisions.

Theoretical Development

Both feminist economics and the reproductive justice framework continue to evolve. Future theoretical work might explore:

Ecological dimensions: How environmental degradation and climate change affect reproductive health and justice.

Technological impacts: How new reproductive technologies create new possibilities and challenges.

Transnational perspectives: How to conceptualize and achieve reproductive justice in an increasingly globalized world.

Conclusion: Toward Transformative Economics

Integrating the reproductive justice framework into feminist economics represents a fundamental shift in how we understand and address reproductive health inequalities. By moving beyond narrow focus on individual choice, adopting the capabilities approach, and taking an intersectional perspective, we can develop more comprehensive and effective strategies to promote reproductive justice.

This approach recognizes that reproductive decisions are not made in a vacuum but are influenced by complex networks of social, economic, and political factors. It also recognizes that true reproductive freedom requires more than absence of legal restrictions; it requires positive conditions that enable all people to make genuine choices about their reproductive lives.

As this paper argues, feminist economics provides crucial tools for advancing this agenda. Through its focus on unpaid labor, structural inequalities, and the care economy, feminist economics can help us understand and address root causes of reproductive injustice.

The path forward requires continued collaboration between scholars, activists, policymakers, and affected communities. Only by working together can we create a world where all people have the knowledge, resources, and power to make decisions about their own reproductive lives—a world where reproductive justice is truly achieved.