HEALTH
Why Black Women Can't Even Have a Miscarriage in Peace in This Country
In heartbreaking case of Britanny Watts, prosecutors cast blame
When Roe v. Wade, the legal precedent that established women's reproductive rights for fifty years, came crashing down, Black women knew they would be the group most impacted by the Supreme Court's decision. Already, Black women were three times as likely as White women to die during childbirth, and this is true regardless of their income and level of education. This disparity, which experts say is the byproduct of racism in the healthcare system, makes pregnancy exceedingly dangerous for Black women. Depriving them of reproductive rights only compounded the issue because not only are Black women more likely to die of complications related to childbirth, but now that choice is less likely to be in their hands.
Black women warned when the precedent fell that the sky was falling, but not enough people in positions of power took heed. Now that many of these new state laws are in effect, Black women are not only at a higher risk of maternal mortality but can be held criminally liable if something goes wrong during their pregnancy. At this point, women are not being treated as human beings but as incubators who have a legal obligation to carry a pregnancy to term…
