How Virginia Latinas are standing up for reproductive rights
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Virginia State Policy Advocate for the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Justice
As a child of undocumented immigrants, Khenia Haro-Perez fought hard to learn how to represent her family. Her experiences gave her the tools to become an advocate. Now, she is the Virginia State Policy Advocate for the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Justice, a role that allows her to be a changemaker at the local, state and national levels in the debate surrounding the right to abortion.
Just about a year ago, on June 24, 2022, the Supreme Court struck down the constitutional right to an abortion. That case, Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, overturned Roe v. Wade (1973) and Planned Parenthood v. Casey (1992), two historic landmark rulings when it comes to women’s reproductive rights. Since the Dobbs ruling, several states have passed trigger laws that make abortion illegal or regulated to the point of infeasibility. In Georgia, for instance, abortion is banned at six weeks, when many women do not yet know they are pregnant.
For many southern states, Virginia is the closest option with the least restrictions. Haro-Perez and her colleagues are fighting to ensure that Virginia can continue to offer these protections. We talked to her about access to healthcare, Virginians’ reactions to Dobbs and her work advocating for women of color.
Can you talk about your background and how you got into the fight for reproductive justice?
I am the child of a single mom. My mom didn’t have medical insurance, and her undocumented status made it incredibly difficult for her to access safe healthcare. Like many kids of immigrants, I became interested in civic engagement out of necessity.
Was there much of a local reaction in Virginia to Dobbs last June? If so, what changes did you notice?
Virginia has felt the weight of the decision before it even passed. We fought to reclaim pieces of autonomy — including ensuring the delivery of abortion medication in the mail — and only recently did we succeed in repealing mandatory waiting periods and ultrasounds. In Virginia in 2022, Black women died at three times the rate of their white counterparts during childbirth, and we continue working to mitigate these inequities.
Virginia allows abortion up to 26 weeks. Because of this, we’re hailed as the safe haven of the south. We’re working hard to ensure that we don’t lose access in our deeply purple state. Localities and municipalities can still pass local bans, something we’re already seeing in Grayson County. [On May 11, the Board of Supervisors for Grayson County voted to make Grayson a “sanctuary county for the unborn”.]
In states including Florida, Idaho, Texas and Tennessee, women’s health professionals are leaving their practices or moving states. As laws become restrictive, more women cross state lines to seek healthcare. How has this affected Virginia?
Since many other southern states enacted immediate bans post-Dobbs, Virginia now provides care to people traveling from other states. We instantly saw a huge influx of people from Kentucky and Tennessee, for example. Bristol, Tennessee, is the twin city of Bristol, Virginia, and people from the Tennessee side now come to the Virginia side for their care. This has made the Bristol clinic a target.
The local abortion fund in Norfolk is fielding many patients from North Carolina. [Despite Governor Cooper’s veto, the North Carolina Senate passed Bill 20 in May, which outlaws abortion after twelve weeks]. Providers are working to accommodate the influx of patients, and we’re also seeing a lot of external support within the coalition space. Groups like the Virginia Reproductive Equity Alliance are bearing some of the weight that’s put on our state, and volunteers from groups like Practi-Cab drive patients to and from clinics.
Which Virginia representatives have emerged as the most positive advocates for women of color?
Leader Don Scott in the House of Delegates has become a staunch advocate, demonstrating a remarkable willingness to join trainings and learn more. Congresswoman and former Senator Jennifer McClellan carried our contraception bill and co-sponsored the Repeal Act to lower abortion restrictions. Senator Ghazala Hashmi carried our contraceptive equity bill and spoke amazingly on the floor to show how our communities could benefit from having a full range of birth control options available. Delegate Candi King has sponsored our bills on the House side, placing Black maternal mortality rates and other issues that Black women face at the forefront of her conversations and floor speeches.
I really think these folks are advocating not just for women of color, but for all the people of color we’re trying to help. Our legislative champions have been crucial in disseminating our message and advancing what we’re trying to accomplish here in the Commonwealth.
What perceptions about the difference between birth control and abortion did you notice before the ban? Have these changed or stayed the same?
Pre-Dobbs, I don’t think people worried about birth control as much because they had the federal protection of abortion. Now, people are seeing that birth control and abortion go hand in hand. We tried to pass in Virginia the Contraceptive Equity Act, but it ultimately did not due to our current oppositional government. Denying access to birth control is as much an infringement on bodily autonomy as denying access to abortion.
Did you notice any discrepancies in how the overturn was described based on the language of the publication/medium?
[The] media did a great job of listening and allowing us to provide educational resources and materials that were culturally competent and digestible in both Spanish and English because we know Google translation in Spanish is not accurate. Outlets also asked for assistance in disseminating this information in Spanish. I talked to a lot of folks that are trying to provide the most accurate information to our communities in the language that serves them.
To learn more about the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Justice, click here.
*This story has been lightly edited for clarity and concision.
– Story by Katherine Murray
– Edited by Michelle Benitez
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