Reproductive Justice and Rethinking Women’s Reproductive Freedom in the Workplace

Reproductive justice is an intersectional feminist theory that uses a human rights framework to advocate for women’s reproductive freedom. This article argues that, as an emerging framework, reproductive justice presents a powerful opportunity to better understand how broader social structures undermine women’s reproductive freedom, particularly for women of color and marginalized communities. However, this framework has seldom been applied in Australia. This article builds on key feminist labor law and related theories to critically examine the development of reproductive health leave and women’s experiences of undergoing IVF while working. It then explores how reproductive justice—as an analytical framework and mobilizing movement—has transformative potential.