Reproductive Justice Glossary

Happy Monday, everyone!

Throughout history, social movements have excluded individuals and groups who may have been passionate advocates of the cause.  We at Choice USA strive not only to avoid this, but to offer a strong foundation that promotes informed decision-making and consideration of this movement.  In line with this, I have compiled a basic glossary for anyone who may be just beginning to dive into reproductive justice.

Additionally, I do not purport to be an expert. This glossary can also serve as a talking point.  Feel free to critique my definitions for being too simple or to suggest terms to add to the glossary.

• abortion – the end of a pregnancy before birth; can be “spontaneous”, also known as a miscarriage, or induced, the intentional termination of a pregnancy.

• Abstinence-only sexuality education – abstinence-only-until-marriage sexuality education programs teach only the benefits of abstaining from all sexual activity; these programs do not provide medically-accurate or developmentally beneficial information about sexuality, relationships, contraception, HIV and other STIs, etc.

• Anti-choice (a.k.a. “pro-life”) – political position that opposes a woman’s right to choose to continue or terminate a pregnancy and to obtain safe and legal abortion services.

• Assisted Reproductive Genetic Technologies (a.k.a. ARGT) – general term referring to various processes that people use to help get pregnant; these include but not limited to egg donation, sperm donation, in vitro fertilization, surrogacy and pre-implantation genetic diagnosis.

• Choice – a woman’s right to choose to continue or terminate a pregnancy.

• Contraception (a.k.a. birth control) – a method of preventing pregnancy. There are different kinds suited to people with different needs: some are permanent, some are temporary, some are hormonal, and some are barriers methods (like condoms) which can also protect against sexually transmitted diseases. Some examples of contraception are “the pill”, condoms, diaphragms, and IUD’s.

• Emergency Contraception (a.k.a. EC, Morning-after Pill) – high-dosage birth control pills that can prevent pregnancy after unprotected vaginal intercourse or if primary birth control method fails (not to be confused with RU-486 or medical abortion).

• EMILY’s List – political organization that identifies and supports pro-choice women candidates; name stands for Early Money Is Like Yeast and the concept that the sooner one invests in a candidate, the more successful she will be. www.emilyslist.org/

• Exhale – national organization that provides post-abortion counseling through a nationwide, multilingual talkline; www.4exhale.org

• Federal Abortion Ban (a.k.a. “Partial-Birth Abortion Ban”) – federal ban on the dilation and extraction abortion procedure; passed in 2003 and upheld as constitutional by the Supreme Court in 2007.

• Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act (a.k.a. FACE Act) – federal legislation that prohibits the use of force, the threat of force, or physical obstruction to prevent individuals from obtaining or providing reproductive health care services.

• Gender – refers to socially constructed roles, behaviors, activities and characteristics that our society deems appropriate for men and women.

• Gender Non-Conforming – a term for individuals whose gender expression challenges society’s expectations based on the sex they were assigned at birth. Gender non-conforming individuals may or may not alter their bodies through the use of hormones or surgery. Gender non-conforming people may or may not identify as trans, male or female.

• Guttmacher Institute – organization focused on sexual and reproductive health research, policy analysis and public education; www.guttmacher.org

• HIV/AIDS – Human Immunodeficiency Virus can be spread through sexual contact that attacks the immune system and causes a condition called AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome). There is no cure for HIV or AIDS, but certain medications can prolong the lifetime of people living with HIV/AIDS.

• Hyde Amendment – legislation that prohibits the use of federal Medicaid funding for most abortion procedures

• Judicial Bypass – an order from a judge that allows a minor to have an abortion without telling or receiving consent from her parent or legal guardian.

• LGBTQ (a.k.a. GLBTQ) – refers to individuals who self-identify as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, or Queer; can be expanded to LGBTQQPIA, The second Q is added to refer to individuals who are questioning their sexual orientation, P refers to Pansexual, I refers to intersex individuals, and A refers to both asexual individuals and straight Allies; these other identities are usually understood to be included in the acronym LGBT.

• Medical abortion (a.k.a. Medication Abortion) – medical procedure that induces abortion by taking medications such as RU-486.

• Microbicides – a range of woman-initiated, topical products (i.e., foams, gels, rings, films) in development to prevent the transmission of HIV and other STIs. Thus far, no microbicide has been proven to be effective during clinical trials.

• Morning-after pill (a.k.a. emergency contraception) – high-dosage birth control pills that can prevent pregnancy if taken within 5 days after unprotected vaginal intercourse or if primary birth control method fails (not to be confused with RU-486 or medical abortion).

• NARAL Pro-Choice America (a.k.a. NARAL) – reproductive rights organization that focuses on supporting pro-choice legislators, judges and other political officeholders, promoting pro-choice legislation, and defending against anti-choice legislation; www.prochoiceamerica.org

• OB/GYN – OB is short for obstetrics or for an obstetrician, a physician who delivers babies. GYN is short for gynecology or gynecologist, a physician who specializes in treating female reproductive health issues.

• Parental consent laws – legislation that requires minors to obtain the consent of one or both parents before accessing abortion services.

• Parental notification laws – legislation that requires the notification of one or both parents before minors can access abortion services – theoretically the parents don’t have to consent to the abortion procedure, just be notified that it is happening.

• Partial-birth abortion – a political term that anti-choice activists invented, not actually a medical procedure. In 2003, President Bush signed the “Partial-birth Abortion Ban” (a.k.a. Federal Abortion Ban) into law, which can be used to prosecute doctors for performing procedures that are safest for women, including some first-trimester abortions.

• Pharmacy refusals – the refusal of a pharmacist or pharmacy to fill legal prescriptions for birth control and emergency contraception.

• Planned Parenthood Federation of America (a.k.a. PPFA) -reproductive health and rights organization; largest reproductive health care provider in the US.

• Planned Parenthood v. Casey – 1992 Supreme Court decision that allowed states to pass increased restrictions on access to abortion services.

• Pro-choice – political position that supports a woman’s right to choose to continue or terminate a pregnancy and to obtain safe and legal abortion services.

• Queer (a.k.a. LGBTQ, GLBTQ) – an umbrella term referring to members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community; sometimes also used as a distinct sexual and/or gender identity apart from lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender that recognizes the fluidity of sexuality and gender; may also connote a political identity instead of, or in addition to, a sexual or gender identity.

• Refusal clauses – policies and legislation that allow certain medical professionals and organizations to refuse to provide information or services that violate their moral or religious beliefs, particularly related toabortion and emergency contraception.

• Reproductive Health Advocacy – social justice activism that focuses on reproductive health disparities and inequities by providing services to marginalized communities.

• ­­Reproducti­ve Justice­ – social justice activism that focuses on the complete physical, mental, spiritual, political, economic, and social well-being and believes that reproductive justice will be achieved when all people have the economic, social and political power and resources to make healthy decisions about our bodies, sexuality and reproduction for ourselves, our families and our communities in all areas of our lives.

• Reproductive Rights Advocacy – social justice activism that focuses on protecting women’s legal reproductive rights, particularly abortion and access to family planning services.

• Right to privacy – basis of Roe v. Wade decision legalizing abortion; it is the right to be “left alone” or free from government intrusion as guaranteed by the 14th Amendment

• Roe v. Wade – 1973 Supreme Court decision that established the right to abortion as guaranteed by the constitutional right to privacy.

• Safer Sex – taking precautions to prevent pregnancy and STI’s. This can mean using a condom or other barrier method like a dental dam, using birth control, sharing information about your sexual history with your partner and getting tested for STI’s. No sex is completely “safe”.

• STI – Sexually transmitted infections are any infection transmitted through sexual contact; public health experts have somewhat recently discarded the term, STD (sexually transmitted diseases) because the concept of “disease” usually means that there are clear signs or symptoms of infection, and many of the most common STI’s (for example, herpes and human papilloma virus, or HPV) often don’t cause symptoms. STI’s can have serious medical consequences if left untreated.

• SIECUS (a.k.a. Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States) – national organization that advocates for the right of all people to accurate information, comprehensive education about sexuality, and sexual health services; www.siecus.org

• Surgical Abortion – medical procedure that ends a pregnancy by emptying the uterus (or womb) with special instruments.

• Teen Endangerment Act, TEA (a.k.a. Child Custody Protection Act, CCPA) – federal legislation that would prohibit assisting a minor to obtain an abortion by crossing state lines and avoiding parental consent/notification laws in her home state; this law was proposed by Congress, but not passed.

• Title X – legislation that provides federal funding for family planning clinics.

• Trans – In general, anyone whose identity, appearance, or behavior falls outside conventional gender norms may describe themselves as trans.  “Trans” is often used as an umbrella term to include transgender people, transsexuals, cross-dressers, masculine-identified females, feminine-identified males, and other gender variant or gender queer people. Often trans and/or gender non-conforming people identify as or express themselves in a way that doesn’t seem to match the sex to which they were assigned at birth. This can mean identifying as the opposite gender or not identifying with male or female (seeing gender as a spectrum, not a binary). Trans people come from every race, class, sexual orientation, age, and ability. Some people choose to medically transition to another gender (through hormone therapy or surgery or both).

 Sources:
Medical-dictionary.com
**The Pro-Choice Public Education Project, http://www.protectchoice.org/section.php?id=32
Choice USA