If/When/How Reproductive Justice with Mariko Miki
By Alex Chester
I love watching The Handmaid’s Tale. I loved the book, and I love the TV series. As nice as it is to watch the show and think to myself, “thank God this isn’t real life,” I realize The Handmaid’s Tale is cautionary saga. People like Mariko Miki are vital to our world, keeping policies in check and upholding Roe v. Wade. Ms. Miki is the Deputy Director at If/When/How — Lawyering for Reproductive Justice.
“If/When/How transforms the law and policy landscape through advocacy, support, and organizing so all people have the power to determine if, when, and how to define, create, and sustain families with dignity and to actualize sexual and reproductive wellbeing on their own terms.”
She reached out to Hapa Mag, and we were thrilled to talk to this badass Hapa lawyer.
Interview
What makes you Hapa? Do you identify with this word?
Mariko Miki
I’m biracial and bicultural — I’m half Japanese and half caucasian. I was born in Japan and grew up being called “haafu,” which means half. I always felt that was somewhat derogatory, like you’re only half as good as a full Japanese, so I appreciate recent efforts to reclaim the word.
I identify as Hapa because I understand it to mean “half” or “mixed” and because it creates community among people who identify as part Asian and/or Native Hawaiian. I also recently learned that this usage of the term by non Native Hawaiians is somewhat controversial, but I do think that language can evolve.
What was it like for you growing up?
My experience growing up was bifurcated between living in Japan and then in the Southeast US. I always felt like an outsider — in Japan, I was the “gaijin” (foreign) girl with the white mom. In America, I was the “Chinese” girl. “What are you?” was a common question. It wasn’t until I got to college that I really felt able to embrace the liminal space of being mixed race, move past the binary, and be OK with it.
When did you first know you wanted to go into law?
I studied political theory in college and became interested in concepts like liberty and how the State interacts with individuals and society. I studied abroad in Japan and was fascinated by how people there approach abortion care, not as a controversial privacy right, but simply as a means of birth control — basically health care. There is generally a different understanding of “rights” in Japanese society. I also interned at the American Civil Liberties Union, which was an eye-opening experience of an organization fighting against the government in the name of free speech and conduct. I loved the work these attorneys were doing and decided law school was the path forward.
Miki Speaking on Reproductive Justice
What specific field of law did you initially want to practice? Why?
I went into law school thinking I wanted to do impact litigation for reproductive rights. This was in part because I wasn’t yet exposed to all of the other kinds of legal work you can do to fight reproductive oppression.
What type of law did you practice as an associate attorney?
Right out of law school, I worked for a corporate law firm doing general litigation, largely because back then, entry-level reproductive rights and justice positions were extremely scarce. I got to do a lot of pro bono work at the firm, including visiting detention centers in Texas and California housing undocumented, unaccompanied minors and interviewing the kids on behalf of the UN Women and Children’s Commission. Seeing these children back in the news today under such deplorable and politicized conditions is heartbreaking. Here’s something I wrote about it.
2019 Leadership Institute with colleague Erin Panichkul, Student Organizing Coordinator, presenting
How did you move in to your current specialty?
I was recruited to design and launch a one-of-a-kind legal fellowship program called the Reproductive Justice Fellowship, intended to create entry points into the reproductive rights and justice movement for new lawyers and build capacity at organizations advancing reproductive justice through policy. The Fellowship is in its tenth year now and we’ve launched the careers of over seventy new legal advocates committed to reproductive justice. Being at If/When/How for almost a decade, I’ve been involved in nearly every aspect of its growth and development from a scrappy small nonprofit to the powerhouse it is today. As Deputy Director, I oversee all programming and personnel and help provide vision and strategy for our work.
How did IfWhenHow.org come about? What is your organization currently during to help uphold Roe v. Wade?
If/When/How: Lawyering for Reproductive Justice is a national network of lawyers, law students, legal professionals, and activists who know that reproductive justice doesn’t just happen — it takes thoughtful, intentional work from those of us with access to the systems and institutions that were all too often built to be agents of oppression, not justice. We started nearly twenty years ago as a coalition of law students working to improve and protect abortion access, and now we’re a fully fledged legal organization using litigation, advocacy, training, organizing, and research to help make reproductive justice a reality for all.
Our work is so much bigger than Roe v. Wade, although of course that historic case holds great symbolic and legal importance for all of us who value reproductive freedom. Today, we are responding to an era of political tyranny, regressive policy, and fear mongering, all of which foment discrimination and hateful actions toward marginalized groups. Working together with movement partners and leaders, legal professionals, law students, and other advocates, we focus our energy on five Strategic Initiatives: decriminalizing self-managed and supported non-clinical abortion, improving young people’s abortion access, securing public insurance coverage of abortion, enhancing birth options and experiences, and increasing support for families using public benefits.
How can the average person help uphold Roe v. Wade?
We encourage folks to focus not on the status of one legal precedent, but to get involved on the ground, either with your time or your money or both, in ensuring that the health care, rights, and resources that all of us need are available when we need them. There are so many powerful reproductive justice organizations doing essential work— you can plug in to your local abortion fund (go to Abortionfunds.org to find one near you), local NAPAWF chapters are leading change across the country, and students can reach out to Urge.org to find out what’s happening on their campuses. We also just need to talk about the fact that cash donations go a long way, especially at small, grassroots organizations. Find out where your local, women (and trans-folk-of-color led organizations) are, and direct your resources — again, time and money — where they advise it’s best spent. If/When/How is also building a pro bono network of lawyers who are ready to respond to the increased criminalization of self-managed abortion care and the policing of pregnancy loss — email us at sma@ifwhenhow.org if that sounds like you!
End of Interview
Alex Chester is the creator and producer of the theatre company WeSoHapa — a theatre based on diversity and inclusion. She is a New York City based columnist for On Stage Blog and contributing writer for ManhattanDigest.com and HuffPo. She also hosts a podcast with fellow writer Melissa Slaughter, We're Not All Ninjas. Follow her on Twitter/Instagram @AlexFChester if you like food and cats.
By Alex Chester
Interview with Mariko Miki, hāfu lawyer for reproductive justice. Today, more than ever, it is important to know your rights, where to turn for aid, and what you can do to help. Miki has worked for If/When/How almost a decade and shares her wisdom with Hapa Mag readers here.