Indigenous women, facing tougher abortion restrictions post-Roe, want Congress to step in

Sudiksha Kochi, USA TODAY
Dec 12, 2023

April Matson was a single mother of two on a six-hour interstate quest to find a legal abortion.

Matson loved being a parent, but the 25-year-old Native American couldn’t afford another child on her small salary as a food co-op manager. So, in 2016, Matson and a friend set out from Rapid City, South Dakota, for the long drive to Fort Collins, Colorado, for a $650 abortion. To save money, Matson spent two nights after the procedure recovering in a tent at a campsite.

Continued: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2023/12/12/indigenous-women-abortion-restrictions/71333894007/

Indigenous communities navigate abortion after Roe

States with some of the largest Indigenous populations also have some of the strictest restrictions

By Noel Lyn Smith and Maddy Keyes, News21
Tuesday, Aug 29, 2023

ALBUQUERQUE – Rachael Lorenzo calls it their “auntie laugh,” a powerful chuckle that lasts long and fills any space. Aunties are prominent figures in Indigenous culture who offer comfort when one needs help.

Aunties answer the phone when no one else does.

That’s what Lorenzo, who is Mescalero Apache, Laguna and Xicana, does as founder of Indigenous Women Rising, a national fund that covers the costs of abortions – and the traditional ceremonies that follow – for Indigenous people.

Continued: https://www.the-journal.com/articles/indigenous-communities-navigate-abortion-after-roe/

Tribal Land Is Suddenly at the Center of the Fight for Abortion Access

Oklahoma's governor is warning tribes about "setting up abortion clinics" on their sovereign land.

By Kylie Cheung
May 17, 2022

Across the country, Republican governors are champing at the bit to end abortion rights in their states once Roe v. Wade falls. And in Oklahoma, the state with the second highest population of Indigenous people, Gov. Kevin Stitt is taking this crusade a step further—threatening tribes that continue to offer abortion care on their sovereign land.

“Oklahomans will not think very well of that if tribes try to set up abortion clinics,” Stitt said in a Fox News interview on Sunday. “They think that you can be 1/1,000th tribal member and not have to follow the state law.”

Continued: https://jezebel.com/tribal-land-is-suddenly-at-the-center-of-the-fight-for-1848937428

USA – Indigenous Abortion Access Shouldn’t Be Tied to Western Religious Values

Indigenous Abortion Access Shouldn’t Be Tied to Western Religious Values

By Kandace Littlefoot, Truthout
Published October 27, 2019

As a Diné woman raised by my maternal grandmother and my sisters, I know that respecting someone’s right to make their own reproductive health decisions is a value deeply rooted in our sovereign Indigenous communities. In our matrilineal society, women have always had direct autonomy over our lives and our reproductive health care decisions. Historical accounts show women and pregnant people in our society have engaged in some form of abortion over generations. I support abortion access because of my Indigenous matriarchal values and traditions — not in spite of them.

Continued: https://truthout.org/articles/indigenous-abortion-access-shouldnt-be-tied-to-western-religious-values/