Abortion Explained!
Immigration
The United States claims to be the “land of the free,” but for anyone who has tried to get an abortion, particularly as an immigrant, we know this is miles from the truth. For undocumented people, immigrants, and people who are seeking refuge or asylum in the U.S., our human rights to basic needs like healthcare or keeping our family together are put in jeopardized by legislation that forcibly separates our families, requires citizenship to see a medical provider, and criminalizes our entire existence. The U.S.’s brutal anti-immigration policies make Black and Brown undocumented people feel particularly unsafe and uncertain about their futures every day, and particularly when deciding whether or not to continue their pregnancies.
Our right to make decisions about our reproductive health should never be dependent upon our citizenship status. Historically, anti-abortion policies have risen alongside anti-immigration policies because they’re created and enforced by the same people who seek to uphold white supremacy and limit people of color’s freedoms, families, and futures. Racist and xenophobic views about how people of color create their families also inform anti-abortion policies politicians push, like the so-called “race selective” and “sex-selective” anti-abortion bans.
Undocumented people are especially at risk of being forced to continue pregnancies they don’t want to continue simply because they cannot travel to a nearby clinic, are unsure of whether they’ll be deported during their pregnancy because of criminalized immigration policies, or they do not qualify for health insurance and cannot afford care.
“I quickly thought about what I did or did not want for my life—[including] the worst-case scenario if I was deported and whether I would leave with an infant or leave [the child] with my elderly parents. My documentation status never felt more real than that moment. I had to decide whether or not to have a child given that I might not be in this country in a year.”
— Layidua Salazar, We Testify storyteller
Our nation’s criminalized anti-immigration system is riddled with reproductive coercion and is a reproductive injustice.
"People I don't even know are trying to make me change my mind. I made my decision and that is between me and God. Through all of this, I have never changed my mind."
— Jane Doe
Undocumented immigrants, refugees, unaccompanied minors, and other immigrants in the government’s custody are also subject to misinformation and denial of care simply because they are not citizens. In the case of ‘Justice for Jane,’ one of several anonymous undocumented minors, a 17-year-old was detained at the U.S.-Mexico border after attempting to enter the U.S. When she found out she was pregnant, she tried to schedule an abortion but was stopped by the Trump administration who did not want her to leave the detention facility or have an abortion. At the time, officials stated ‘Jane Doe’ had no right to an “elective” abortion because she was undocumented and stated that if she wanted an abortion she would have to return to her country of origin. Luckily, with the support of attorneys and local groups, ‘Jane’ was granted permission from a federal court to access the abortion she needed after a weeks-long fight against the Trump administration. ‘Jane’ says these barriers never made her change her mind.
When it comes to applying for benefits in the U.S., immigrants who have obtained citizenship recently have to wait five years before becoming eligible for state health programs like Medicaid; those of us who are undocumented are only provided “emergency” care coverage at no cost, and we can’t purchase private health insurance plans. Undocumented people make up approximately 3.2% of the U.S. population, which means millions of people are currently without any financial support when it comes to abortion costs should they need it. Undocumented people can also seek low-cost or free reproductive healthcare (like contraception and some prenatal care) from some healthcare providers participating in the federal Title X grant program, but there are still so many logistical barriers to care. Some immigrants may choose to self-manage their abortions, which is usually medically safe, but legally risky. None of this absolves our government from the responsibility of creating legislation that protects all of its people, including those of us who are undocumented.
Accessing abortions as an undocumented person is challenging logistically in addition to legally. In order to have an abortion in the U.S., some clinics are required to obtain certain documentation related to your identity. For those of us seeking refuge, asylum, or to live within the U.S., having access to the necessary documentation, like a state ID or driver’s license, required by clinics can be an additional barrier, especially if we didn’t have time to gather things like personal and government identification before we left our countries of origin, documents were lost or stolen, or states and cities refuse to allow undocumented people to get documentation. It can also feel stigmatizing and risky to access healthcare as an undocumented person in the U.S. even though healthcare providers have no legal obligation to report someone’s immigration status, nor are physicians able to deny someone medical care over their citizenship. Government anti-immigration authorities like ICE and Border Patrol have been known to wait outside of reproductive health clinics to arrest undocumented people when they go to clinics for checkups, birth control, and abortions. These anti-immigration authorities are also horrific places for people who want to continue their pregnancies. In several immigration jails, doctors have performed hysterectomies on detained people, without their consent, leaving them unable to have children. Other immigrant women have shared that they cried out for support and medical help during their pregnancy and were refused care and later had miscarriages.
The right to abortion care is not real in this country if immigrants do not have access to it and are criminalized for seeking it. The vision of reproductive justice means that everyone has the ability to decide if, when, and how to grow their family, and to do so free from government coercion and violence. Everyone must be able to decide their own reproductive decisions and be free to receive care, no matter where they live, how much money they have, and their immigration status. And they must be free to do so without fear of being criminalized because they’re an immigrant. We must ensure that all policies protecting and expanding abortion access include undocumented people because immigrant justice is reproductive justice.
“For a minute or two I smiled at the idea of being a mother. [Then] I quickly had a reality check and knew I couldn’t start a family here, right now. The same people who would force me to continue my pregnancy are the same people who would rip my baby from my arms and deport me because of my immigration status.”
— Alejandra Pablos, We Testify storyteller