POPULATION CONNECTION, INC.
WASHINGTON, DC

We Are Population Connection Since 1968, Population Connection (formerly Zero Population Growth or ZPG) has been America's voice for population stabilization—we are the largest grassroots population organization in the United States! Your support helps us advocate for universal access to birth control, educate tomorrow’s leaders about global population challenges, and mobilize Americans who care about stabilizing population. , and see firsthand the powerful ways in which the collective’s partner organizations strategize and organize to advance reproductive justice (RJ). offered a unique opportunity for our team to learn about the impacts of multiple systems of oppression — including gender, sexual orientation, and social class disparities — on the health and lives of indigenous people and other people of color in the United States. We participated in sessions led by women of color, for women of color. From sex worker justice to abortion access to black liberation to trans rights, the conversations explored how reproductive justice is crucial to all progressive movements. Most importantly, the SisterSong conference pushed us to reflect as an organization and consider how we can be a better ally to the RJ movement. As we explored the reproductive justice framework with hundreds of advocates, we found a collective strength in our mission to extend voluntary family planning education and services to people around the globe, at countries’ request, through U.S. foreign assistance. Reproductive justice highlights the ways that healthcare choices look different for different groups of people. Those from marginalized communities often face disproportionately high rates of violence (including state violence) and poverty, and unreliable access to quality education, childcare, healthcare, and stable jobs. Reproductive justice demands that we never make judgements about or seek to influence the reproductive choices of others. Each individual must have the right to make choices that are best for themselves, their families, and their circumstances, and to parent in the way that they choose. In many ways, the reproductive justice movement is a direct response to a history of the state using the bodies of people of color for its benefit and otherwise controlling their reproductive futures. It stands in stark opposition to the shameful history of forced sterilization policies in the United States and around the world. Federally funded forced sterilization programs took place in 32 states throughout the twentieth century, with the most recent claims of unauthorized sterilization occurring in California from 2005–2013 (see sidebar). These programs oppressed those with “undesirable traits” or deemed unfit to parent: people of color, immigrants, poor people, unmarried mothers, incarcerated people, and people with disabilities. The eugenics movement, other junk science, and thinly veiled racist fears provided the justification to sterilize over 65,000 people, often without their consent or even their knowledge. These programs were used specifically to curb the populations of communities of color and were an abhorrent violation of reproductive freedom, completely robbing victims of reproductive choice. Today, the voices of the victims are too often sterilized as well, leaving little room for recognition and retribution. As a population organization, we cannot talk honestly about reproductive justice without first acknowledging the dark history of forced sterilization policies in the United States. As we discuss the impacts of our growing population on the world’s resources, we must be mindful of the association vulnerable communities draw between “population control” and the violation of bodily autonomy. While Population Connection never supported forced sterilization or any other form of involuntary family planning, coercive population control is undoubtedly a ghost that haunts the population movement, even today. We cannot right the wrongs of the past, but we can recognize the pain these unjust policies have caused. We need to listen to and lift up the voices of victims and survivors. Only with our humble recognition of past injustices can we move forward in the fight to ensure access to reproductive healthcare for everyone, everywhere. Through our grassroots outreach and advocacy work, we continue to promote rights and justice-based approaches to advancing access to voluntarily family planning for women, girls, and all people around the world. As a team, we work to start conversations in communities across the country in an effort to advance global reproductive rights. We seek to make the connections between population growth, the planet’s resources, and human health and wellbeing. Population control has no place in our mission. We do not seek to control anyone — rather, we advocate for each individual to have the resources to make choices that make sense for them. The scope of our mission is so important — for the people we fight for, and for the sake of the planet. It is our duty to insist on reproductive justice, to remember the wrongs of the past, and to strive to be better. It is our duty to fight, and when the fight is this important, it is our duty to win. PopEd workshops provide educators in schools—and even zoos, nature centers, and museums—with the tools they need to incorporate population concepts into their classes. At Capitol Hill Days we train future population activists to lobby for increased access to birth control and reproductive health care, both here in the U.S. and around the world. We Are Population Connection Since 1968, Population Connection (formerly Zero Population Growth or ZPG) has been America's voice for population stabilization—we are the largest grassroots population organization in the United States! Your support helps us advocate for universal access to birth control, educate tomorrow’s leaders about global population challenges, and mobilize Americans who care about stabilizing population.