Black Women for Wellness' 25th Annual Reproductive Justice Conference to Feature Address by CA Attorney General Rob Bonta

LOS ANGELES, Aug. 14, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Black Women for Wellness is proud to announce that California Attorney General Rob Bonta will offer opening remarks at Black Women for Wellness' 25th Annual Reproductive Justice Conference, "A New Era of Justice: Our Bodies, Our Voices, Our Freedom." The conference will be held on August 15, 2024, at The California Endowment in Los Angeles from 8am-5:30pm PT.

Black Women For Wellness is committed to the health and well-being of Black women and girls through health education, empowerment and advocacy. (PRNewsfoto/Black Women For Wellness)

Attorney General Rob Bonta has a distinguished history of advocating for reproductive rights in California. He was the first Attorney General to proactively go after "crisis pregnancy centers," suing a chain of centers and an anti-abortion group over misleading advertisements of an unproven and largely experimental procedure known as "abortion pill reversal." He led an investigation into statewide compliance with anti-implicit bias training for perinatal care providers, which found that not a single employee had been fully trained. As a result of the investigation, the Attorney General sponsored new legislation to ensure successful implementation of state-mandated implicit bias training to reduce the disproportionate maternal mortality rate of Black women.

Attorney General Bonta released the first-ever report on reproductive healthcare in California jails, highlighting the importance of ensuring reproductive rights for incarcerated individuals. Finally, he has also taken action to defend access to abortion and contraception, to ensure the privacy of patients receiving reproductive health care, to demand tech companies protect sensitive reproductive health data, and to protect those who come to California for care.

Attorney General Bonta will deliver his address at 9:30 a.m. His remarks will be followed by a keynote panel titled, "Designing our Future: Perspectives and Visions for a New Era of Justice and Liberation."

The keynote panel will feature Deon Haywood, a nationally recognized leader in the reproductive justice movement and executive director of Women With A Vision, alongside Dazon Dixon Diallo, founder of SisterLove, the first women's HIV, sexual, and reproductive justice organization in the southeastern United States.

This year's theme, "A New Era of Justice: Our Bodies, Our Voices, Our Freedom," provides a rich backdrop for stories on the evolving landscape of reproductive justice, the intersection of social justice issues, and the voices leading the charge for change.

Conference participants will have the opportunity to learn from keynote speeches, panel discussions, and breakout sessions that highlight critical topics such as maternal health, environmental justice, and civic engagement.

Conference Highlights:

• Civic Engagement Track
• Environmental Justice Track
• Grown and Sexy Track
• In/Fertility Track
• Maternal Health Track
• Men's Track
• Youth Track

"Black women's bodies are indeed on the line in this new era of justice ushered in by the Dodd decision, the conservative Supreme Court and the willingness of many state governments to erode a woman's right to autonomy," says Janette Robinson Flint, executive director of Black Women for Wellness. "Across the country we have seen the impact across the reproductive field, infertility, and decreased access to maternity care by the creation of maternity deserts -- especially with for-profit hospitals and bans on abortion."

"Black Women for Wellness' annual Reproductive Justice Conference will bring updates across the spectrum – from implicit bias and the Black-lash (increase in anti-black racism), to criminalization of women seeking abortion care, including the impacts of maternity deserts, maternal mortality and how environmental justice plays a role in our reproductive health status. We hope you join us, plan to share the information you learn and become active as Black women experience this new era of reproductive justice."

Tickets for the 25th Annual Reproductive Justice Conference are currently on sale. For additional information about the conference, including sponsorship and volunteer opportunities, please visit www.bwwla.org or email arnedra@bwwla.com.

About Black Women for Wellness:
Founded in 1997, Black Women for Wellness is a California-based nonprofit organization committed to the health and well-being of Black women and girls. Through education, advocacy, and leadership development, the organization seeks to empower communities and create lasting change in reproductive health, rights, and justice.

For press access, please contact:

Myeisha Essex, Communications Manager, Black Women for Wellness

myeisha@bwwla.com
310-920-1308