Reproductive Justice in the U.S. Immigration Detention System

Abstract

Reproductive coercion extends from a historical context in which the obstetrics and gynecology profession has interfered with the reproductive and bodily autonomy of immigrants. We provide illustrative examples of historical and contemporary immigration policies that allow mechanisms of reproductive control to persist within the immigration detention system. We end by compelling obstetrician–gynecologists to act as agents of change by leveraging their social, economic, and political power to resist and eliminate structures and norms that enable reproductive oppression of immigrant groups in detention.