“The Right to Govern Their Own Bodies”

Chapter four brings into focus the struggle for reproductive justice in Los Angeles in the 1970s to explore the heterogenous Chicana feminist and non-feminist experiences and ideologies that shaped the body politics of Chicana liberation activism in the period. Chicana reproductive justice was challenging considering nationalist ideology that privileged the family as the foundation of Chicano struggle. This chapter addresses how Mexican American women used bridging activist practices, particularly coalition building, print culture, and establishing institutions, to strategically bring this sensitive issue into a more public discussion, which provided a template for campaigns dealing with other fraught topics.