Published Writing

Renee’s writing illuminates her specific expertise in structural inequities, the history of abortion and reproductive politics, pop culture narratives and television representation, and the current state of abortion access. These are a topical selection of Renee’s writings.

Renee Bracey Sherman is an award-winning writer whose work focuses on abortion access, reproductive justice, the representations and narratives of people who have abortions in pop culture, and the structural inequities of healthcare caused by racism, criminalization, poverty, and anti-Blackness. Her writing takes complicated and misrepresented societal issues and makes them compelling arguments accessible to all audiences. Her work has been featured in newspapers, magazines, and digital publications all around the world.

In 2017 Renee’s Yes! Magazine article What the Abortion Bans Have to do With Poverty and Race won a National Black Journalist Association Salute to Excellence Award.

People Who Have Abortions vs. the Police
“Until we demand police-free health care, we’ll never be able to fully secure abortion access for all. We won’t know what it is to truly decide if, when, and how to grow our families free from state-sanctioned violence and coercion. This vision requires that we separate abortion support from support for a policing system that is ready to incarcerate anyone who violates unjust, medically ignorant laws. We must also strongly challenge supposedly pro-choice politicians who fail to defend us against law enforcement.”

The Fall of ‘Roe’ Was Driven by Our Country’s Original Sin: Anti-Blackness
"The desire to control Black bodies and Black liberation is a function of white supremacy and it permeates every strategy and goal—even for well-meaning reproductive freedom advocate…Likewise, white saviorism, whether supportive or opposed to abortion rights, is also a problem. It is no longer adequate to look for “compromise” or to hide our histories."

Abortion access in the US is falling apart — politicians must step up
“We need our leaders to step up and offer a plan for full decriminalisation of abortion. There is no reason anyone should face arrest, prosecution or lawsuits for seeking constitutionally protected healthcare. We need drastic action — and we needed it yesterday.”

The Right to (Black) Life
“Yes, it’s essential that black women have the choice about whether to conceive and give birth. But this choice, without the ability to protect a child from violence, rings hollow. That’s why it’s important to understand that the fight for reproductive justice and the fight to end police brutality go hand in hand.”

Who Should You Listen to on Abortion? People Who’ve Had Them
“The crux of the issue is not whether you would have an abortion yourself. It’s whether you would stand in the way of someone else’s decision. Everyone loves someone who has had an abortion, though we may not know it.”

Patriot Front's anti-abortion advocacy at March for Life sends a clear message
“The intersection of white supremacists and anti-abortion rights ideology isn’t new — in fact, abortion restrictions have often been tied to increasing anxiety among white nationalists.”

Voting Won't Save Abortion Rights
"How many votes do we need to cast before we’ll see some action? At what point will abortion stop being a fundraising tactic and actually become the focus of an economic and racial justice policy agenda?"

After Roe: How We Got Here and What Comes Next
"By overturning Roe, conservatives are working strenuously to rebuild the nation in their white nationalist Christian vision, and they will stop at nothing to criminalize those who do not comply."

How Shondaland Shows Changed the Way We View Abortion on TV
"How many votes do we need to cast before we’ll see some action? At what point will abortion stop being a fundraising tactic and actually become the focus of an economic and racial justice policy agenda?"

Whitewashing reproductive rights: How black activists get erased
"Abortion for black women has always been a revolutionary rejection of patriarchy, white supremacy and forced systems of oppression…We need the audacity of our ancestors now. We have too much knowledge and too many resources to continue to have the narrative reshaped and our realities ignored before our eyes."

Writing Archive

Renee has written for newspapers, magazines, and digital outlets in the US and around the world. Below is an archive of her writing at various publications. If you’d like to commission Renee, send her an email.