He said he deploys the phrase strategically depending on what state he's working in. Joshua Coleman leads V is for Vaccine, a group that opposes vaccine mandates. ![]() "What's really changed is that in the last two or so years, it's become highly partisan," Reich said. They gained traction despite an obvious inconsistency, she said: Often, the same people who oppose vaccine requirements - arguing that it's a matter of choice - are against abortion rights. Republican leaders and white evangelicals implemented that strategy on the ground, Reich said, arguing against vaccine mandates when COVID vaccines were still only theoretical - scaring people with rhetoric about the loss of personal choice and images of vaccine passports. The Trump administration politicized the pandemic from the outset, starting with masks and stay-at-home orders. Reproductive Rights in America The history of the anti-abortion movement in the U.S. The movement is now focusing more heavily on access to health care, using catchphrases such as "Bans Off Our Bodies" and "Say Abortion," Hicks said. Even where abortion is legal, she said, some women can't "choose" to get one because of financial or other barriers. She said the movement was already gravitating away from the phrase. "In this moment, to co-opt that messaging and distract from the work that we're doing, and using it to spread misinformation, is frustrating and it's disappointing," Hicks said. Jodi Hicks, president of Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California, acknowledged that the appropriation of abortion rights terminology has worked against the reproductive rights movement. "What's really unique about this is that you don't usually see one side's base adopting the message of the other side's base - and succeeding," she said. The slogan started as an abortion rights catchphrase, but has become a favorite of vaccine skeptics. The phrase "My Body, My Choice" was ubiquitous at an April rally against vaccine mandates in Los Angeles. "It strengthens the meaning of choice in the anti-vaccine space and detracts from the meaning of that word in the reproductive rights space." "It's a really savvy co-option of reproductive rights and the movement's framing of the issue," said Lisa Ikemoto, a law professor at the University of California-Davis Feminist Research Institute. ![]() Now that anti-vaccination groups have laid claim to "My Body, My Choice," abortion rights groups are distancing themselves from it - marking a stunning annexation of political messaging. The ruling leaves it up to states to decide, and up to 26 states are expected to ban or severely limit abortion in the coming months. Vaccine opponents have appropriated "My Body, My Choice," a slogan that has been inextricably linked to reproductive rights for nearly half a century, to fight mask and vaccine mandates across the country - including in California, where lawmakers had vowed to adopt the toughest vaccine requirements in the U.S.Īs the anti-vaccine contingent has notched successes, the abortion rights movement has taken hit after hit, culminating in the June 24 Supreme Court decision that ended the federal constitutional right to abortion. ![]() This story was produced in partnership with Kaiser Health News.Īnd they're succeeding. ![]() Armed with the language of the abortion rights movement, anti-vaccine forces have converged with right-leaning causes to protest COVID precautions. Similar scenes have played out across the country during the pandemic. It was the "Defeat the Mandates Rally," a jubilant gathering of anti-vaccine activists in April to protest the few remaining COVID-19 guidelines, such as mask mandates on mass transit and vaccination requirements for health care workers. It wasn't a protest against the recent U.S. Amid the festivity, people waved flags, sported T-shirts and sold buttons - all emblazoned with a familiar slogan: "My Body, My Choice." In the shadow of L.A.'s art deco City Hall, musicians jammed onstage, kids got their faces painted, and families picnicked on lawn chairs. Despite using a phrase that originated with the abortion rights movement, he opposes abortion. Steve Bova (center) traveled from Maryland to Los Angeles with the "People's Convoy" to protest covid-19 restrictions.
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