Last year, the US Supreme Court overturned the landmark Roe v. Wade ruling on abortion rights which had set the precedent for almost 50 years. There has been a lot of media coverage on the Roe decision, of course, but much of it is lacking in its analysis — and that’s why we’ve brought on two guests to provide a much needed perspective. Diana Moreno is an immigrant rights activist and Democratic Socialists of America organizer in Queens, and Jenny Brown is an organizer in the women’s liberation movement and the author of several books on feminism, reproductive rights, and labor, including Without Apology: The Abortion Struggle Now and Birth Strike: The Hidden Fight Over Women’s Work. Both Diana and Jenny approach their feminism with a socialist analysis that provides a strong materialist grounding, a deep understanding of the dynamics around immigration, and an orientation that challenges traditional liberal and oftentimes white, heteronormative feminism that dominates most mainstream discussions.
In this Conversation we explore the history of abortion in the United States, a class analysis on abortion and reproductive justice, the ideologies of liberal versus socialist feminisms, the abject failure of the Democratic Party, possible paths forward, and much more.