This week is Black Maternal Health Week and as a provider of reproductive health care it’s important that we take this time to uplift such a crucial conversation surrounding reproductive health and how it intersects with reproductive justice.
As a Black woman, mother and the VP of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at Planned Parenthood Southwest Ohio, this issue is personal for me. Twenty years ago, I was a young Black woman navigating pregnancy and childbirth without the tools to exercise agency over my body or to advocate for myself and my choices.
That’s why the theme for the 2024 health week observance, “Our bodies still belong to us: reproductive justice now!” is so important. And two years post the Supreme Court of the United States overturning Roe v. Wade, we feel this message more than ever.
With the onslaught of legislative attacks at a state level and court battles to defend access, the issue of maternal health and mortality in the Black community has remained a throughline of epidemic only exacerbated by the restriction of access.
Plainly, reproductive health care for Black women and gender expansive people is abysmal and we must do better.
It’s no secret that Black women are routinely harmed in the health care system. This comes from the compounding effects of a health care system built on white supremacy and it spills into all forms of care. This shows up in a variety of ways – for example, physical pain that Black women experience is often not believed, recognized or addressed. In fact, Black women are 3x more likely to die in childbirth than white women.
According to the Office of Minority Health, in 2020, non-Hispanic black/African American mothers were twice as likely to receive late or no prenatal care as compared to non-Hispanic white mothers.
We also recognize that Planned Parenthood is not excluded from that history of harmful health care and we are actively working to be part of the change. It’s important to make known that we acknowledge this past, and we vehemently denounce it. We stand firm in our belief that all people have value and have the right to determine their own reproductive futures. That belief guides our work with each patient.
We see the pervasiveness of this systemic racism in the effects already taking place locally in instances like the Brittany Watt’s case which falsely criminalized her miscarriage due to confusion in Ohio law following the Dobbs decision.
Through a reproductive justice framework, we can work to change this reality that affects so many in Ohio and beyond. Reproductive justice is the belief that all people have the right to have children or not have children and the right to nurture the children we have in a safe and healthy environment.
While we are not a reproductive justice organization, at Planned Parenthood Southwest Ohio Region, we stand in solidarity with reproductive justice organizations and we use this reproductive justice framework, started by Black women 30 years ago, to address the specific experiences of Black women.
We believe that Black women and gender expansive people deserve to exercise self-determination, bodily autonomy and pleasure. We aren’t just working for the right not to be harmed, but for the right to happiness, pleasure and fulfillment as autonomous people.
When Issue 1 passed in November, the tide turned for the legal protection of abortion in Ohio. But unfortunately, we know legal doesn’t always mean accessible and we still have a long way to go in bridging reproductive health and education access gaps in this state.
Now we have the opportunity to envision a reproductive health landscape in Ohio that promotes the health and well-being of Black women, that is informed by the voices and desires of Black women, and that results in positive health outcomes for Black women.
To do that, we are listening and learning from our Black patients, communities, supporters and partners so that together we can advance a vision of wellness and health equity in which everyone thrives.
If you want to help, join us at our first Black, Indigenous and other people of color happy hour, BLKFrequency: It’s a vibe, to build community and envision a brighter future for Black maternal health outcomes and reproductive justice in Ohio.
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