By Alyssa Bovell, Senior Associate, Strategy & Impact

Reproductive justice is a Black wealth-building issue. At their core, both reproductive justice and wealth are rooted in freedom: the power to decide whether, when, and how we build our families and futures. After years of working at the intersection of reproductive justice and gender equity, I’ve found that same concept reflected in conversations with reproductive justice practitioners and leaders describing what the movement is fighting for. That shared language was brought to SisterSong’s Let’s Talk About Sex (LTAS) conference in August 2026, where I facilitated a workshop titled “Future Building at the Intersection of Reproductive Justice and Economic Power.” At the heart of that workshop were two reflection questions: How does economic freedom connect with reproductive justice and bodily autonomy? And what must be true, economically, socially, and environmentally, for reproductive justice to be a reality?

SisterSong Women of Color Reproductive Justice Collective defines reproductive justice as “the human right to maintain personal bodily autonomy, have children, not have children, and parent the children we have in safe and sustainable communities. The fight for reproductive justice extends before the term was formally coined in 1994 by 12 visionary Black women leaders in Chicago.[1] That moment served as a spark for the movement by emphasizing the interconnected nature of human rights, reproductive rights, and social justice, as well as the need for the economic resources and power necessary to make informed decisions about our bodies, families, and communities. Grounded in Kimberlé Crenshaw’s theory of intersectionality, reproductive justice provides a lens into how power and overlapping systems of oppression shape lived experiences and access to opportunity. From its origins, the movement has been about working at the intersection of race, class, and gender. Since 1994, the reproductive justice movement has fostered connections across a range of social justice movements, including partnerships with economic justice organizations. These collaborations have linked issues such as bodily autonomy and healthcare access to workers’ rights, wage policies, and financial security.

At their core, both reproductive justice and Kindred’s understanding of wealth are centered on the ability to exercise autonomy, make meaningful choices, and create the conditions necessary for individuals, families, and communities to thrive. Wealth is described as the freedom to shape our own realities, make choices about our lives, care for our families and communities, and create opportunities for future generations. Kindred Futures’ Structural Determinants of Black Wealth framework provides an interdisciplinary approach that conceptualizes wealth as the full freedom and autonomy of Black people, including the freedom to live in safe, affordable, and climate-resilient communities, freedom from poverty, freedom to access asset-creating jobs, and freedom to amass and transfer wealth across generations.

Building on Kindred Future’s interdisciplinary analysis, reproductive justice provides clear examples of how wealth, understood as freedom, shows up in people’s everyday lives. Kindred Futures recognizes that the health, safety, well-being, and sense of belonging of Black families and communities are inseparable from the social and economic conditions surrounding their lives; an analysis long articulated by the reproductive justice movement. Through the lens of reproductive justice, we can identify the opportunities to strengthen collective efforts at the intersection of bodily autonomy and Black wealth building.

• Our Bodies: Freedom begins with the autonomy, health, and well-being of our bodies, including access to comprehensive, quality, gender-affirming healthcare and the financial resources needed to obtain it. In Georgia, nearly 44% of counties are maternity care deserts, meaning pregnant and birthing people are left without access to a hospital, birth center or obstetric provider. This pattern holds across the U.S. South, where 39% counties meet the same definition.[2] Beyond access, expenses associated with contraception and family planning, fertility treatment, prenatal and pregnancy care, childbirth, and postpartum support can strain household finances, making it more challenging to save, invest, and build long-term wealth. Ensuring that individuals and families can make decisions about if, when, and how to grow their families without financial hardship is central to both reproductive justice and economic mobility. Policies such as paid medical leave, workplace protections during pregnancy, fertility and family-building support, and comprehensive health coverage can help ensure that starting and growing a family doesn’t undermine long-term financial security.

• Our Families: Reproductive justice extends beyond individuals to the conditions that allow families to grow and thrive. When families have access to stable income and social safety nets, they’re freer to make decisions about if and when to grow. Wealth is shaped by access to stable incomes, health benefits, opportunities for retirement savings, paid family leave, affordable childcare, and strong social safety nets. Income-support policies such as raising the minimum wage, expanding earned income tax credits and child tax credits, and establishing Children’s Trust Funds (“Baby Bonds”), help families build savings. Additionally, programs such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), childcare assistance, and Medicaid provide families with the resources needed to navigate economic shocks. Medicaid’s support as a family support is evident in its role in maternal health. In Georgia, Medicaid covered over 52,000 births in 2024, 41.9% of all births in the state, and nationwide, covers 65% of births to Black mothers.[3] These supports strengthen family well-being and can create a foundation for long-term wealth building. However, H.R. 1, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, signed into law in 2025, cuts $625 billion from Medicaid over the next decade (2025-2034), the largest rollback of federal health support. Protecting and resourcing these support programs is essential to ensuring families can make decisions that align with their economic wellbeing.

• Our Communities: Families cannot thrive without an environment or community infrastructure that supports their well-being. Access to homeownership and housing stability shapes where and how families can raise children. Efforts to strengthen community supports, such as mutual aid networks, and protect community wealth from exploitation or loss through anti-displacement policies and heirs’ property rights can help families remain rooted in their communities. Strengthening community-shared ownership models and expanding equitable representation and civic participation allows communities to shape the decisions that affect their lives. When communities can determine their own futures, families gain the stability and self-determination central to the reproductive justice tenet of being able to “parent the children we have in safe and sustainable communities.”

Reproductive justice and wealth are rooted in the ability to exercise autonomy, make meaningful choices, and create the conditions necessary for individuals, families, and communities to thrive. During the workshop, we examined reproductive justice through the lenses of pay equity for Black women, climate resilience, and childcare infrastructure. These conversations and discussions around collective-strategy building to strengthen cross-issue partnerships reinforced that reproductive freedom, and bodily autonomy cannot be separated from the everyday economic, environmental, and social conditions in the U.S. South. Organizations working to advance economic justice have an opportunity to build strong partnerships with reproductive justice organizations so that efforts to build Black wealth also build collective power and help achieve wins that both movements seek. Kindred Futures has been leaning into this through investments in and efforts to strengthen childcare and doula infrastructure, partnerships with the Southern Black Girls and Women’s Consortium to support and elevate Black girls’ and women’s entrepreneurship, and advocacy for policies that align with our intersecting movements.

The workshop concluded with a question: What can we carry forward together in the collective work of advancing community wealth building, reproductive justice, and bodily autonomy?  These issues are often treated as separate issues, but our communities experience them as deeply interconnected. Building a future where Black families can thrive requires investments, policies, and partnerships that advance both reproductive freedom and community wealth building.

[1] The twelve leaders credited with the conceptualization of “reproductive justice” are Toni M. Bond Leonard, Reverend Alma Crawford, Evelyn S. Field, Terri James, Bisola Marignay, Cassandra McConnell, Cynthia Newbille, Lorretta Ross, Elizabeth Terry, ‘Able’ Mable Thomas, Winnette P. Willis and Kim Youngblood.

[2] Ashley Stoneburner et al., “Nowhere to Go: Maternity Care Deserts Across the U.S.,” Report No. 5 (March of Dimes, 2026)

[3] Shellie M. Scott, “How the Medicaid Cuts in the ‘One Big Beautiful Bill’ Could Devastate Black Americans,” The Root, April 14, 2026.