Hands Off Mamas: Disrupting the Criminalization of Birthing People Who Use Drugs
This teach-in was hosted by Center for Reproductive Rights and Justice at UCBerkeley, If/When/How, Movement for Family Power, and Elephant Circle.
In November 2024, Center for Reproductive Rights and Justice at UCBerkeley, If/When/How, and Movement for Family Power convened the Breaking Silos in Reproductive Justice: Building Solidarity to End Family Policing symposium to interrogate the family policing system as a reproductive injustice. Then, we continued the work with a 5-part virtual teach-in series in collaboration with Elephant Circle.
Listen in to part two: Hands Off Mamas: Disrupting the Criminalization of Birthing People Who Use Drugs. The demonization, criminalization, and separation of birthing people and their babies is a core feature of the Drug War–employing our healthcare system as a key tool of surveillance and punishment, especially for Black mamas. Click below to hear our panelists discuss family policing as a maternal health crisis and how you can help end the criminalization of mamas who use drugs with our panelists:
Chanel Porchia-Albert, Ancient Song
Dinah Ortiz, National Survivors Union
Karen Thompson, Pregnancy Justice
Kimá Joy Taylor, Doing Right by Birth
Miriam Mack, Movement for Family Power