Black Women for Wellness 26th Annual Reproductive Justice Conference Featured Bold Abortion Care and Access Panel

“When I think of collective liberation and collective freedom, it is something that we are striving toward. And once we get there—whether it’s abstract, or mental, or in our interpersonal relationships, whether it’s how we view and treat ourselves—we have to sustain it,” Osueke added.

“Something that I want to leave with you all is this: you do not have to be an academic scholar, you do not have to be an executive director, you do not have to be an organizer with decades under your belt. You have to be a person who feels and wants better… this movement is for everybody. We cannot stand on the sidelines and watch what we deserve just go down the waistline.”

The session explored the full spectrum of abortion care and justice, including:

• Current challenges facing clinics in California and across the country
• The legal landscape: state and federal bans, targeted litigation, and shifting court rulings
• The role of self-managed abortion and community access to resources like Plan C
• Abortion criminalization and its disproportionate impact on Black communities
• The growing cost of abortion and barriers to coverage
• The threat of fake abortion clinics, misinformation campaigns, and anti-abortionists
• Data privacy and digital surveillance concerns, from period tracking apps to border stops
• Reimagining abortion access as a safe haven in an increasingly authoritarian political landscape
• The critical need for holistic, community-rooted models of abortion support, including abortion doulas and healing justice frameworks

“We approached abortion not as a debate, but as a deeply human experience rooted in history, dignity, healing, and community,” said Adams, “because this conference was about reclaiming our care, our communities, and our power. From the critical insights of policy leaders to the wisdom of abortion doulas and advocates, we reclaimed our full spectrum of reproductive care. Because a legal right means little without real access.”

Conference participants also learned how to protect the reproductive health and overall well-being of Black women and girls through workshops and breakout sessions that highlighted:

• Maternal & Infant Health
• Civic Engagement
• Infertility & Fibroids
• Beauty Justice
• Environmental Justice
• Grown and Sexy (menopause + sexual health for women over 40)
• Men’s Track, and more

The event welcomed birth workers, healthcare professionals, youth leaders, elders, and community advocates into a space for dialogue, shared insights, restoration, and collective healing.

“Black women are not machines built to survive oppression. We are human beings with the right to rest, to joy, and to care,” said Janette Robinson Flint, Executive Director of Black Women for Wellness. “This year’s theme was a declaration rooted in the heart of the Reproductive Justice movement: the right to have children, not have children, and to parent in safe and sustainable environments. Reproductive Justice demands access and liberation. Minding Our Own Black Business was about balancing activism while reclaiming our time, health, and futures from systems that have long profited from our labor while ignoring our pain. This year we reimagined what true justice looks like.”

Find more photos from the 2025 RJ Conference here.

About Black Women for Wellness
Founded in 1997, Black Women for Wellness is a California-based nonprofit committed to the health and well-being of Black women and girls. Through education, policy advocacy, and leadership development, BWW advances reproductive justice and builds community power.

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Myeisha Essex
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