Reproductive Health Justice

The Arkansas Birthing Project will be hosting its 3rd Annual Meeting on September 14, 2019. The Theme of this meeting is “Reproductive Justice: Listening to Black Women” . We want to amplify the voices of women – especially Black Women - across Arkansas who are speaking out on the persistent racial disparities in reproductive health outcomes and reproductive healthcare access. Black Women in America die during childbirth at 4 times the rate of women of any other racial and ethnic group. Women who live in rural communities and the Southern U.S experience these disparities at higher rates. Many governmental and international groups have advocated for changes which will improve this state of affairs.

It has been recommended that these changes be made in the health care made available to Women in the US:

• Remove barriers to access to health insurance for low and moderate income women (including access to Medicaid) to enable them to access timely prenatal and postnatal care in their local communities

• Create more opportunities for access to family planning services and methods.

• Offer sex education aimed at the prevention of sexually transmitted infections (STD’s) and unplanned pregnancies.

• Support the development and use of quality maternity care improvement initiatives that promote safety bundles and greater respect for the needs of poor women and women of color

Women have the right to reproduce and seek health care without discrimination and fear of poor treatment. It is up to all of us to advocate to ensure that this right is made available to all.