Boen, Winters and McLaughlin Reading Asingments

There is a lack of literture studying those in prison

Connection to other reading

Boen

Winters and McLaughlin

Authors' purpose

Main points

Authors' purpose

Agree/Disagree

Main points

Agree

Disagree

The Authors of this article discuss the use of what is known as "soft sterilization" in the US carceral system and the implications it has for incarcerated people, specifically women. This article also talks about the history of Eugenics and sterilization in the US and how it has been used as a tool to oppress BIPOC women and other marginalized groups and how these laws have been used to justify the demonization of BIPOC as well as social programs

Reproductive Justice is a human right

The right to have a child under the condition of one's choosing

The right to not have a child using birth control, abortion, or abstinence

The right to parent children in a safe and healthy environment free from violence by the individual or the state

LARCs are not voluntary when they are offered with the caveat of shortened jail sentences, as stated in the article: "Precluding true voluntariness for people who are incarcerated, the desire for freedom, at any cost, manifests in the violence and coercion endemic to carceral systems"

"Project Prevention, formerly known as Children Requiring a Caring Kommunity or C.R.A.C.K., developed a program to pay current and former substance using men and women US$300 to obtain a tubal ligation, vasectomy, or long-acting reversible contraceptive (LARC), which include intrauterine devices and subdermal implants(National Advocates for Pregnant Women, 2018). Project Prevention originated in California; however, the organization expanded throughout the United States, and as of 2010, into the United Kingdom. Project Prevention emerged alongside state-administered cash incentive programs for mothers receiving government assistance who obtained Norplant subdermal implants. Incentive-driven LARC programs were proposed or enacted in Arizona, Connecticut, the District of Columbia, Florida, Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Washington"

Both of these quotes talk about how "soft sterilization" has been used by the government to incentives marginalized groups to get LARCs and how in doing so some programs have been demonized such as SNAPs

"In 2009, Colorado launched the Colorado Family Planning Initiative (CFPI), a state-administered program that provided free LARCs, tubal ligations, and vasectomies to people with low incomes(Dube, 2015). By 2015, Colorado reported a 48%decline in teen births through expanded access to and financing of LARCs (Wolk, 2015). The positive public response to the CFPI (Budner, 2018;Leins, 2019; Tarico, 2017; Turnbull, 2019) coincides with the state of Colorado reporting program outcomes, which crossed liberal and conservative political beliefs. Providing free and accessible contraceptives, improving maternal health outcomes for low-income women, and promoting public awareness of state family planning services address concerns of liberal constituents. Conservative constituents’ concerns are also addressed by reducing abortion rates and saving an estimatedUS$66.1–US$69.6 million in Medicaid, Temporary Assistance to Needy Families, Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP), and Women, Infants, and Children"

The latter half of this quote, in my opinion perpetuates the idea of "welfare" queens and how if they were "sterilized" the government wouldn't have to fund welfare programs

Reproductive justice has been used in the past by white women to justify the oppression of BIPOC

Argument steps

I'm personally a big anime fan and I was able to connect the first article to an anime I enjoy alot called "Psycho-pass". The general premise of it is that the police in the show measure how likely someone is to be a criminal based on their mental health status and if they're a "criminal" they'll arrest them and get them therapy. I felt like this connected with the first article because it talks about how there is an increased need to pay attention to the needs and health of prisoners and providing them resources while incarcerated and when they're released so that they have good health outcomes

I felt like I could connect Winter's article to alot of our other lectures/readings since alot of BIPOC women we've discussed have been forced to get sterilizations and I felt like this article also connected to the article on whiteness and how LARCs can be sued as a tool of white supremacy to other whites who aren't able-bodied and wealthy or middle class

I agree with the author [Boen] that we need to pay attention to the health needs and outcomes of prisoners and do better research on the health problems they face. I also agree with Winters in that the U.S has a history of using eugenics to punish those who are incarcerated and that this system promotes violence agaist BIPOC and disabled people and that these systems still exist today and demonize BIPOC and marginalized communities and socalized programs that help those groups

I think we can also see a real world example of this need to pay attention to incarcerated people and their needs with the recent riot at the St. Louis Justice Center and the repeated riots there that express a need for basic human needs

We can see this in real life with groups like Autism Speaks who promote eugenics ideals to "cure" autism

There is a lack of literture studying those in prison

Incarceration has been shown to induce or worse depressive symptoms in inmates as well as result in other poor health outcomes