Statement on Racial Justice

Introduced: September 23, 2020

The Free the Pill Coalition Steering Committee (formerly the Oral Contraceptives Over-the-Counter Working Group Steering Committee) believes that now is a critical moment to speak out about racial injustice and particularly about state violence against Black, Indigenous, and other people of color.  

The Free the Pill Coalition Steering Committee unequivocally declares that Black Lives Matter. The murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Tony McDade and so many others put individual names, stories and pain to the impact of systemic racism—the same systemic racism that is an underlying cause of the disproportionate impact that COVID-19 has on people of color and Indigenous communities. It’s also the same systemic racism that is an underlying cause of inequities in maternal mortality, contraception access, abortion access, and other sexual and reproductive health care.  

We take this moment to reflect on our commitment to racial justice and to make explicit the core values that have implicitly and intentionally guided our work. We believe these to be some of the most key values that we share with racial justice movements.  

The Free the Pill Coalition Steering Committee is committed to these core values:  

• Bodily autonomy
  All people are born with inalienable and indivisible human rights including the right to bodily autonomy. Everyone must be able to determine what to do with their body. The coalition is driven by the desire to ensure more bodily autonomy for those who currently face the greatest barriers to contraceptive access.  

• Community accountability/principled partnerships
  Our actions as individuals and as organizations often have impact beyond our intentions. The Free the Pill Coalition Steering Committee trusts the voices of those most impacted and our actions are guided by that wisdom. We practice in the spirit of principled partnerships.  

• Remembering and reconciliation
  The coalition is committed to the important task of remembering and reconciling with the painful past of the development of contraceptives from experiments on unconsenting people of color and disabled people to state sanctioned forced sterilization of incarcerated people. Repair cannot take place without reckoning.  

The Free the Pill Coalition Steering Committee affirms that contraceptive equity can never be accomplished as long as racism continues to exist. We stand committed to racial justice.