In the wake of the news of the Texas Anti-Abortion Bill (SB8), us at Holistic, like many Americans, felt a lot of different emotions: anger, disappointment, and sadness were a few. We also felt deeply determined to speak out and take action. As a company whose mission is to promote fairness of treatment, inclusion, and justice, we could not stay silent on this issue and sought to further educate ourselves in order to advocate for others. We made many promises as a company–one of them being selecting Killing the Black Body by Dorothy Roberts for our December Holistic Book Club, a prolific title that remains relevant and comprehensive on the matters of reproductive health, justice, and oppression even 20 years after its original publication.

Author and social justice advocate Dorothy Robert

While our decision to read Killing the Black Body was sparked by SB8, the book speaks on the myriad of other necessary–and sometimes life-saving–reproductive healthcare services, not just abortion access. Scholar and social justice advocate Dorothy Roberts sheds light on the complicated history of reproductive justice in America by imploring us to take into account the historic mistreatment, discrimination, and dehumanization of black women in the fight for this justice.

What struck me the most while reading Killing the Black Body was how much I did not know about the history of reproductive rights in the U.S. and the despicable injustices women–and especially black women–endured. I took a single women’s history course in college where we briefly learned about Norplant experiments, but other than that and my own lived experience, I knew very little about issues like forced sterilization, forced birth control, the complicated narrative of “the right to choose” that shadowed the birth control movement, and the institutionalized racism that permeated it all. It was horrifying and sobering to read this book, and those feelings multiplied when I came to the realization that not much has changed in the 20 years since its original publication. The amount of people seeking care in 2022 who are still questioned, not believed, and mistreated by doctors. The shocking maternal mortality rates (the average being about 17 per 100,000 live births while it is 43 per 100,000 live births for black women). The continued stigmatization of birth control and abortion healthcare.

While the book was deeply powerful itself, it was our book club discussion that had the biggest impact on me. When we met to discuss the book, many of us initially had a hard time approaching this conversation and verbalizing our feelings. We soon opened up about our own experiences navigating the healthcare system, and shared the experiences of friends, loved ones, and even strangers who have dealt with discrimination and feelings of distrust in the process of seeking care. The power in our support for one another, the readiness to share information, and the empowerment we walked away with remind me of why I work at Holistic. Not only did I walk away from this book club more knowledgeable about what reproductive justice truly means and what continues to threaten it, I walked away knowing that my teammates in that room care deeply about each other and Holistic’s mission to advocate for fairness and justice.

The key to understanding the dangers of laws like Texas SB8 is to understand the humanity of the people who are at the greatest risk–those who are discriminated against by the healthcare system, those who lack adequate information, and those who lack financial or geographical access to often life-saving care. The key is to learn and listen–and then advocate for others.

-Maggie Heaps, Communications Associate

What’s next?

We have selected “Heartland: A Memoir of Working Hard and Being Broke in the Richest Country on Earth” by Sarah Smarsh for our February Holistic Book Club. Read along with us and let us know your thoughts!

If you’re interested in joining us or partnering with Holistic for a book club, please reach out to maggie@holisticindex.com.