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The Disparity in Reproductive Healthcare
A perspective from Maya Vizuete
Abortion access and the fight for this right is entirely intersectional, having a deep rooted racial history. Even before Roe v Wade was overturned in June 2022, the right to bodily autonomy and reproductive healthcare was hard to come by for many. Those most affected by this disparity were Black and brown women and queer people.
The disparity in reproductive healthcare for people of color must recognize the history of birth control, which was created through uncompensated testing on Puerto Rican women by eugenicist Margaret Sanger, the hysterectomies performed by ICE on unconsenting women at the border, and the history of white women neglecting Black and brown women in their feminist movements, as well as leveraging their privilege to actively harm these communities. This has had disastrous effects, including the Black maternal mortality rate increasing to be three times the white maternal mortality rate.
A post-Roe world makes this elusive reproductive healthcare even harder to come by, especially for people of color. Systemic racism has created more obstacles for people of color to build generational wealth. In housing, specifically, processes like redlining and gentrification have displaced many people of color to lower income areas with less accessibility to good schools, healthy food, and, notably, healthcare. Many are forced to travel long distances to clinics and if that is not possible, they must resort to unsafe, at home methods that often result in injury or fatality.
As a young woman of color, I advocate for the importance of healthcare accessibility in my community. My adulthood will be spent fighting unjust governmental action, and, most importantly, supporting those around me. Join us in building community strength by supporting local abortion accessibility organizations, including Carolina Abortion Fund and NC Teens for Abortion Access, through volunteering and donating, as well as voting for politicians who have pledged to maintain the right to reproductive healthcare.
“Viewpoints” on Chapelboro is a recurring series of community-submitted opinion columns. All thoughts, ideas, opinions and expressions in this series are those of the author, and do not reflect the work or reporting of 97.9 The Hill and Chapelboro.com.
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