Loretta Ross's blog

The defeat of Mississippi Initiative 26 and the gains for reproductive choice today in Mississippi--while critical--may in the long run be seen as pyrrhic victories given the ominous implications of Initiative 27, the exclusionary voter ID initiative that will disenfranchise thousands of African Americans, immigrants, married women, transgendered people, and Native Americans.

In Mississippi, two ballot initiatives threaten the health and lives of women across the state, and the disenfranchisement of the largest bloc of voters in the state. A campaign based on a reproductive justice model can defeat both.

Women of color are fighting a race- and gender-baiting campaign that attempts to drive a racial wedge in the pro-choice movement and a gender wedge in communities of color.