SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Reproductive rights and anti-choice protesters rally outside the U.S. Supreme Court before the start of oral arguments in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization case on December 1, 2021. The case considers the constitutionality of Mississippi's restrictive ban on abortion after 15 weeks. (Photo: Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
Climate Justice Is Reproductive Justice
From high temps to asthma from air pollution, climate change affects everyone's health. These risks are even worse for pregnant people—making climate change a public health crisis for generations.
https://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/2021/12/22/climate-justice-is-reproductive-ju…
Dec 24, 2021
More than ever, people of childbearing age are choosing not to have children. There are a variety of factors that go into this choice -- wage stagnation, the housing market, civil unrest, COVID-19. But a common denominator heard among many in their 20s and beyond is grave concern over our climate trajectory. They're not wrong to be worried about what kind of climate and resources would be available for their potential kids. Climate justice is a crucial part of reproductive justice.
SisterSong Women of Color Reproductive Justice Collective includes in its definition* of reproductive justice "the human right to ... parent the children we have in safe and sustainable communities." That is a key connection with climate change. A safe environment in which to have and raise children is a basic human right--violated by the climate crisis. From pregnancy to childhood, climate change threatens people's reproductive health.
"...the human right to maintain personal bodily autonomy, have children, not have children, and parent the children we have in safe and sustainable communities."
*SisterSong's Full Definition of Reproductive Justice
Climate Change Puts Pregnant People At Risk
Higher temperatures are an immediate symptom of the climate crisis. Hot weather is obviously uncomfortable for pregnant people, and it can shift quickly from discomfort to danger. Researchers in California found that for every increase of ten degrees, the risk of premature birth goes up by 8%. Air pollution has also been linked to premature birth, low birth weight, and stillbirth. Extreme climate events also have a negative effect on pregnant people's health. After Hurricane Sandy in New York, emergency room visits for pregnancy complications increased by nearly 17%.
The U.S. already has a horrific racist parental health crisis. Black and Indigenous birthing parents and babies die during birth, or soon after, at much higher rates than white parents. The climate crisis compounds this, and pregnant Black and Indigenous people face disproportionately high reproductive threats from climate change. Redlining is reflected in higher temperatures, lower air and water quality, and fewer trees in predominantly Black neighborhoods. This translates to poor health outcomes in pregnancy and birth. These examples of environmental racism also harm children of color after they are born, like high asthma rates among Black children.
Climate Change is a Danger to Reproductive Health and Justice
It stands to reason that the option to raise children in a safe and sustainable environment is a human right. Therefore, climate change and the threat it poses to pregnant people, babies, children, and families constitute a human rights violation. As is so often the case, the individuals who face these threats are not the people who caused them. Careless and greedy fossil fuel CEOs have caused a public health crisis, and it's long past time for their destruction to be stopped. The well-being of current and future generations requires nothing less.
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
© 2021 Food & Water Watch
More than ever, people of childbearing age are choosing not to have children. There are a variety of factors that go into this choice -- wage stagnation, the housing market, civil unrest, COVID-19. But a common denominator heard among many in their 20s and beyond is grave concern over our climate trajectory. They're not wrong to be worried about what kind of climate and resources would be available for their potential kids. Climate justice is a crucial part of reproductive justice.
SisterSong Women of Color Reproductive Justice Collective includes in its definition* of reproductive justice "the human right to ... parent the children we have in safe and sustainable communities." That is a key connection with climate change. A safe environment in which to have and raise children is a basic human right--violated by the climate crisis. From pregnancy to childhood, climate change threatens people's reproductive health.
"...the human right to maintain personal bodily autonomy, have children, not have children, and parent the children we have in safe and sustainable communities."
*SisterSong's Full Definition of Reproductive Justice
Climate Change Puts Pregnant People At Risk
Higher temperatures are an immediate symptom of the climate crisis. Hot weather is obviously uncomfortable for pregnant people, and it can shift quickly from discomfort to danger. Researchers in California found that for every increase of ten degrees, the risk of premature birth goes up by 8%. Air pollution has also been linked to premature birth, low birth weight, and stillbirth. Extreme climate events also have a negative effect on pregnant people's health. After Hurricane Sandy in New York, emergency room visits for pregnancy complications increased by nearly 17%.
The U.S. already has a horrific racist parental health crisis. Black and Indigenous birthing parents and babies die during birth, or soon after, at much higher rates than white parents. The climate crisis compounds this, and pregnant Black and Indigenous people face disproportionately high reproductive threats from climate change. Redlining is reflected in higher temperatures, lower air and water quality, and fewer trees in predominantly Black neighborhoods. This translates to poor health outcomes in pregnancy and birth. These examples of environmental racism also harm children of color after they are born, like high asthma rates among Black children.
Climate Change is a Danger to Reproductive Health and Justice
It stands to reason that the option to raise children in a safe and sustainable environment is a human right. Therefore, climate change and the threat it poses to pregnant people, babies, children, and families constitute a human rights violation. As is so often the case, the individuals who face these threats are not the people who caused them. Careless and greedy fossil fuel CEOs have caused a public health crisis, and it's long past time for their destruction to be stopped. The well-being of current and future generations requires nothing less.
More than ever, people of childbearing age are choosing not to have children. There are a variety of factors that go into this choice -- wage stagnation, the housing market, civil unrest, COVID-19. But a common denominator heard among many in their 20s and beyond is grave concern over our climate trajectory. They're not wrong to be worried about what kind of climate and resources would be available for their potential kids. Climate justice is a crucial part of reproductive justice.
SisterSong Women of Color Reproductive Justice Collective includes in its definition* of reproductive justice "the human right to ... parent the children we have in safe and sustainable communities." That is a key connection with climate change. A safe environment in which to have and raise children is a basic human right--violated by the climate crisis. From pregnancy to childhood, climate change threatens people's reproductive health.
"...the human right to maintain personal bodily autonomy, have children, not have children, and parent the children we have in safe and sustainable communities."
*SisterSong's Full Definition of Reproductive Justice
Climate Change Puts Pregnant People At Risk
Higher temperatures are an immediate symptom of the climate crisis. Hot weather is obviously uncomfortable for pregnant people, and it can shift quickly from discomfort to danger. Researchers in California found that for every increase of ten degrees, the risk of premature birth goes up by 8%. Air pollution has also been linked to premature birth, low birth weight, and stillbirth. Extreme climate events also have a negative effect on pregnant people's health. After Hurricane Sandy in New York, emergency room visits for pregnancy complications increased by nearly 17%.
The U.S. already has a horrific racist parental health crisis. Black and Indigenous birthing parents and babies die during birth, or soon after, at much higher rates than white parents. The climate crisis compounds this, and pregnant Black and Indigenous people face disproportionately high reproductive threats from climate change. Redlining is reflected in higher temperatures, lower air and water quality, and fewer trees in predominantly Black neighborhoods. This translates to poor health outcomes in pregnancy and birth. These examples of environmental racism also harm children of color after they are born, like high asthma rates among Black children.
Climate Change is a Danger to Reproductive Health and Justice
It stands to reason that the option to raise children in a safe and sustainable environment is a human right. Therefore, climate change and the threat it poses to pregnant people, babies, children, and families constitute a human rights violation. As is so often the case, the individuals who face these threats are not the people who caused them. Careless and greedy fossil fuel CEOs have caused a public health crisis, and it's long past time for their destruction to be stopped. The well-being of current and future generations requires nothing less.
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.