ABORTION BANS & WHITE SUPREMACIST VIOLENCE: 

Two sides of the same sexist, racist attacks on our lives and communities

During the uprisings of the summer of 2020 and in the face of anti-Black state-sanctioned violence, we issued a statement of solidarity. We are now reissuing this statement to show how the same white supremacist violence has led to the recent murders of 8 Atlantans, including 6 Asian women. You can find the original “Peaches for Black Lives” statement here.

We are the Pissed Off Peaches. We are Georgians who came together to defy anti-abortion legislators and defend our communities against racist and sexist abortion bans. In 2019, we fought hard to stop Georgia politicians from banning abortion. While their bill ultimately passed, we fought back in court, blocked it, and we’re proud to say ABORTION IS STILL LEGAL IN THE STATE OF GEORGIA.

We believe that every person in Georgia deserves to live in safe and sustainable communities. We believe our bodies and decisions should not be sexualized without our consent, shamed, or criminalized. We believe that we should not be used as political pawns for an agenda that is actively seeking to harm us and deprive us of life, liberation, and joy.

We believe that our voices should be heard and our votes should be counted.

On February 23, 2020, Ahmaud Marquez Arbery, a 25-year-old Black man, was on his daily jog in his neighborhood in Brunswick in Glynn County, when he was hunted and murdered by a group of white supremacists. And on March 16, 2021, 8 people, including 6 Asian women were gunned down by a white man in their place of work along with two bystanders. These attacks are part of a larger pattern of white supremacist violence and misogyny in the U.S. Black folks have been disproportionately killed by the police and have died from COVID-19 and Asian Americans and immigrants have experienced a 150% increase in hate crimes since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. And we are now saying, NO MORE to this racist misogyny targeting Black, Brown, and Indigenous women and other marginalized genders.

We are PISSED OFF that systemic misogyny, sexual violence, anti-Blackness, and racism results in the continued murder of Black, Brown, and Indigenous women.

We are PISSED OFF that Black, Brown, and Indigenous families cannot live in peace without white supremacist violence stealing loved ones away.

We are PISSED OFF that in 2006, Kathryn Johnston was murdered in her home, as a result of the same kind of no-knock warrant and shoddy police work that led to the murder of Breonna Taylor in her bed. 

We are PISSED OFF that in addition to our country’s history of slavery and anti-Blackness, we also have a tradition of anti-Asian and anti-immigrant racism which includes the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 banning immigration from China for 20 years, the internment of Japanese immigrants in camps during World War II, the recent ban on immigration from Muslim countries, and the Trump administration’s “Remain in Mexico” policy for asylum seekers.

We are PISSED OFF that women, gender nonconforming, and transgender folks are murdered by men every day because of their gender. After reporting sexual harassment and assault and being denied help, Vanessa Guillén, a 20-year-old Mexican American Army specialist, was murdered by her abuser. Femicide is on the rise in the U.S. and yet little is being done to address it.

We are PISSED OFF that as our communities continue to die from COVID-19 and white supremacist violence, politicians in Georgia and across the U.S. are spending their time passing an unprecedented number of anti-voting laws and even more extreme bans on abortion.

Our rights, decisions, and bodies BELONG TO US. Not to cops. Not to politicians. Not to courts.

Audre Lorde said, “There is no such thing as a single-issue struggle because we do not live single-issue lives.” Abortion access, reproductive justice, racial justice, gender equity—these are not separate issues. They are intersecting issues that collectively determine whether we can live and thrive.

Until we can agree that Black lives matter, ALL people deserve to live free from the fear of white supremacist violence, ALL Black, Brown, and Indigenous bodies deserve to be treated with dignity and respect, and ALL Georgians are given the opportunity to decide what is best for ourselves and our communities on our own terms, we know that we will not be free.

As Reproductive Justice Advocates, women, nonbinary people, queer and trans people, immigrants, and Black and Brown Georgians, we know the importance of moving through this world with an intersectional lens because we do not live single-issue lives. We are asking our co-conspirators, how far are you willing to go to make sure that we are all working towards our collective liberation?

We have good reasons to be PISSED OFF. We live in a state with no Medicaid expansion. We live in a state with rampant voter suppression. We live in a state where detained women are being forcibly sterilized. We live in a state with a governor determined to outlaw abortion. We live in a state that continues to put profit over people, failing to save countless lives during a global pandemic that is killing Black, Brown, and Indigenous people at higher rates. But we know it is not enough to just be pissed off. From Kathryn Johnson, Alexia Christian, Anthony Hill, and Ahmaud Arbery to the eight victims of the March 16th shooting in Atlanta, we must take action against the systemic misogyny and white supremacy that is killing our people.

We are pissed off. We are activated, and we are now called to action. We cannot continue to let another day go by where the complete disregard for Black, Brown, and Indigenous lives, autonomy, and self-determination is considered the status quo.

Georgians deserve better, and the time is now to stand up for what we know is right.

It’s time to divest from systems that were never intended for us to thrive.

It's time to defund the police and radically shift power, money, and resources into our communities.

It's time for us to expand Medicaid.

It’s time to fund abortion and demand that we all have access to comprehensive sexual and reproductive care.

It's time for equitable access to information, resources, and care.

It’s time to act. How far are you willing to go for our collective liberation?