Advocates are using the Nov. 5 election to raise awareness about reproductive health disparities affecting Black women, such as increased pregnancies, birth complications and deaths, as well as higher rates of some cancers.
Democratic candidate Kamala Harris stressed abortion rights as a basic principle in her campaign, and during her appearance, she accused Republican Donald Trump of being responsible for the deaths of two young black mothers in Georgia, a state that restricts abortion.
While public opinion polls rank inflation and the economy as top priorities for black women, Reuters She spoke to 10 activist groups that she said aim to mobilize women of color around issues of systemic health care inequity.
The effort is part of a 30-year-old movement for “reproductive justice.”
These concerns go beyond abortion rights, an issue that has galvanized women since the US Supreme Court struck down the constitutional right to abortion in 2022.
Pregnancy complications
Black women in the United States also face greater risks of having children. According to the report, they are three times more likely to die from pregnancy-related causes than white women Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
the Center for Disease Control Health experts attribute these gaps to chronic conditions such as cardiovascular disease and high blood pressure, as well as structural racism, implicit bias from health care providers and lack of access to quality health care.
Leah Wright Reagor, a history professor at Johns Hopkins University, said abortion restrictions made it difficult for Black women to access emergency care in cases of failed pregnancies or complications from medical abortion.
“The reproductive health landscape for Black women has become much more precarious in the last two and a half years,” she said.
Harris faces risks
However, some experts believe Harris faces a challenge in reconciling two different constituencies on abortion rights and maternal mortality.
White women and black women have historically had different approaches to abortion rights and reproductive health care, said Dr. Nadia Brown, director of the Women’s and Gender Studies Program at Georgetown University.
“You won’t find black women saying I’m voting because I want to try to enshrine abortion rights, you’ll find black women talking about it. I’m voting because I understand that there are a lot of attacks on bodily autonomy, and I want to be able to protect that and think about health care as a right.” Human rights and dignity.”
last month, ProPublica She spoke about the deaths of two black mothers, Amber Thurman and Candy Miller, who were denied medical treatment after suffering complications related to medical abortion.
Harris spoke about the deaths at a campaign rally in Atlanta days later, saying Thurman would be alive today if she had not waited 20 hours in a hospital for post-abortion care.