Unbreakable Threads:
Stories of reproductive justice
Essays and poems from a global community reflecting on resilience, healing, and reproductive justice
In a moment of increasing restrictions, stigma and backlash against reproductive rights, our movement needs more than street protests and policy wins. We need authentic voices of connection and inspiration.
With this writing series, we offer an invitation to slow down and bear witness to the personal healing and resilience each author generously shares. These essays and poems explore resilience as it is lived: imperfect, ongoing, and deeply human.
We believe resilience is a practice—a collective act in which we all must engage. This writing series is a deliberate act of resilience. We hope you’ll join us by reading and sharing.
Stories of reproductive justice
In these nine essays and poems, authors from around the world put names, voices and lived experience to people everywhere who yearn for reproductive freedom and bodily autonomy.
Please note: Some pieces reflect experiences of stigma, loss, gender-based violence, abuse, or other harms related to reproductive injustice.
Bernadette mattered. My abortion mattered
“The day after my second-trimester abortion, I woke up to the news that Roe v. Wade had been overturned.”
‘But what if your husband wants kids?’
“How dare I give up on myself when my people won’t give up on me?”
Gorditas de Azúcar
April 6
“They gave me my voice
at the sacrifice of their silence.”
Dalit daughters demand justice
April 20
“Why do they have to die to be heard?”
Three Honduran Women
May 4
“In that cold, crowded room
We all helped each other carry the weight.”
We resist to exist: An East African queer resilience story
May 18
“Queer rage is worn like a second skin, and mentally, we are constantly battling with our reality.”
A Doubly (Un)comfortable Decision
June 1
“That there’s a hint of sadness, but also relief invades me”
A no to motherhood is a yes to me
June 15
“Will I have no purpose in life without being a mother?”
I was a teen activist. I’m still resisting.
June 29
“Grief, once crippling and isolating, can grow into wisdom to be passed down.”
About the writers
This series draws from a global community of resisters and persisters who live and work within the realities of reproductive injustice and continue to show up despite stigma and risk. Each piece reflects deep emotional work.
“Community isn’t something you stumble into. It’s something you build painstakingly, brick by brick.” —Ursula M. Abanga
Sharing personal stories is not easy; it requires trust, time, and care. That’s why we compensated and supported every writer in this series through a collaborative editorial process grounded in consent, trauma-awareness, and rooted in respect rather than extraction.
“Our resilience is radical. It is joy in the face of grief. It is dancing after court hearings, sharing food after protests, braiding a young girl’s hair and telling her she is beautiful, not despite the world she’s in, but in defiance of it.” —Rakshya Khadgi
We partnered with writers to ensure this series was created with care, consent, and fair compensation.
This writing series reflects Ipas’s long-standing commitment to invest in people, not just programs. By funding and supporting creatives within our movement, we expand global connection and honor the resilience required—and resilience built—when we tell difficult truths.
Together, we’ll keep moving forward.