Janurary 5, 2026
By Nourbese Flint, President
America, You in danger girl
Around the world, authoritarian leaders have been on the rise, using anti-feminism, anti-trans bigotry, anti-immigrant sentiment, and abortion bans to consolidate power. But over the last year, the United States has essentially looked at that global trend and said: hold my beer.
As Oda Mae Brown famously warned in Ghost—and yes, I’m dating myself here—you in danger, girl. And we are.
What we’ve witnessed over the past year is not just political polarization or “backsliding.” It is the rapid consolidation of power into a specific form of authoritarianism: fascism. Fascism is not simply dictatorship. It is a system rooted in white Christian nationalism, enforced hierarchy, and the belief that the state has the right to control bodies, families, and belonging.
For those of us in the reproductive justice movement, this is not abstract theory. It is lived reality. And it is why we must be fully committed to the fight for democracy and against fascism.
First: reproductive control is a core tool of fascism.
History is painfully clear: when governments seize control of reproduction, fascism is never far behind. Mussolini restricted abortion early in his regime. So did the Nazis. In both cases, the state inserted itself as the ultimate decision-maker over reproduction, effectively nationalizing women’s bodies and turning them into government commodities.
Every fascist regime polices reproduction. They glorify motherhood for some, criminalize it for others, and weaponize medical systems to enforce ideology. What we are seeing now in the United States follows this exact playbook. The capture of the Supreme Court and the repeal of Roe v. Wade did not simply “return the issue to the states.” It allowed your ZIP code to determine whether you or the government controls your body.
This obsession doesn’t stop at abortion. Fascist movements fixate on birthrates, “replacement,” purity, and motherhood as destiny. They punish people who do not conform to rigid gender roles. They attack trans people, queer families, sex education, and any household that falls outside a narrow definition of “acceptable.” These attacks are not distractions; they are how fear is mobilized and loyalty enforced.
The rise of pronatalism, the “trad wife” aesthetic, and the criminalization of pregnancy outcomes are not cultural coincidences. They are ideological infrastructure.
Second: reproductive health depends on a functioning government and healthcare system.
Bodily autonomy is meaningless if you cannot access care when you need it—or afford it when you do. In the United States, Medicaid pays for roughly 40 percent of all births. Millions more rely on government subsidies to access health insurance in an otherwise punishing healthcare market. In plain terms: for a huge portion of this country, the ability to grow families and stay healthy is directly tied to public investment.
Over the last year, attacks on healthcare have been a central priority of the Trump administration and its allies. The consequences are already visible. Health insurance is increasingly out of reach. Reproductive health clinics are closing. Providers are leaving the field. With further cuts scheduled to kick in after the 2026 election, we are staring down more rural hospital closures and an even smaller reproductive healthcare workforce.
At the same time, agencies like the CDC and HHS—historically essential sources of reliable public health data—are being defunded and hollowed out. When expertise is stripped away and data is politicized, we lose the ability to even measure the harm, let alone respond to it effectively.
Fascism doesn’t just restrict care. It dismantles the systems that make care possible.
Third: movement isolation is a gift to authoritarians.
Fascism thrives when movements stay in their lanes: labor over here, environmental justice over there, reproductive rights somewhere else, racial justice siloed off on its own. Division is not a side effect—it is a strategy.
The only way out is solidarity. A social justice movement that honors the integrity of each mission while standing united against fascism is not optional; it is essential. This isn’t controversial in the reproductive justice world. RJ has always been intersectional, rooted in the understanding that bodily autonomy is inseparable from race, class, gender, immigration status, and economic justice.
If democracy collapses, reproductive rights will not “weather the storm.” We will be among the first casualties.
So the real question is not whether reproductive justice organizations should be involved in the fight against fascism. It is whether we can afford not to be—given what history has already taught us, loudly and without mercy.
Because this time, the warning has already been issued.
And yes. We are in danger, girl.