Yesterday, Orlando women met to underscore health disparities in the medical field and reproductive rights of Black women. The women also praised Vice President Kamala Harris for her work in putting forth policies that will reduce racism in the medical field.
Moderating the panel was State Representative Kamia Brown. Brown was joined by Judge Glenda Hatchett, United States Senator Rebecca Rausch, Central Florida Gynecologist Ann Ashley-Gilbert and Reproductive Rights Advocate Keisha Mulfort. The women shared their stories, discussed statistics and legislation and offered their advice to those in attendance.
Judge Glenda Hatchett’s daughter-in-law, Kira Johnson, died in childbirth due to medical neglect. Hatchett said, “They never did the CT scan, which they should’ve done, and they would’ve understood that she was bleeding profusely. All of her signs, even without the CT Scan, were a mess.” By the time the medical team identified the problem, there were three liters of blood in her abdomen. Hatchett said, “She coded, they brought her back, she coded later and she never came back.” Johnson left behind a grieving husband, 19-month-old baby and a newborn.
“I thought that I was well-versed and knew stuff but I did not understand the disparity among Black women — Brown women — are three to four times more likely to die giving birth. I just did not know that,” Hatchett said.
Massachusetts Senator Rebecca Rausch has been a passionate advocate for Black maternal health. Rausch is also the only member of the Senate who has children under 10 years old. Rausch has created legislation for maternal health that has now become law in Massachusetts. There have been statewide hearings that have uplifted the voices of Black women in the area of maternal health. Based on the recommendations that came from that report, Rausch said it is important to address the racial inequities that persist. “One of those recommendations was indeed licensing certified professional midwives. These are the midwives that provide out-of-hospital birth care. “Rausch added that although the number of home births went up during the pandemic, those numbers didn’t drop when the pandemic period ended.” Rausch said those numbers remained the same both before and after Covid among women of color. Rausch attributes that to the ongoing systemic racism within hospital settings.
Vice President Kamala Harris has long championed policies to improve maternal health and equity, and addressing the maternal mortality and morbidity crisis is a key priority. America’s maternal mortality rates are among the highest in the developed world, and they are especially high among Black women and Native American women, regardless of their income or education levels. On behalf of the Biden-Harris Administration, Vice President Harris issued a nationwide Call to Action to both the public and private sectors to help improve health outcomes for parents and infants in the United States.
Since the overturning of Roe v Wade, more than half of Black women ages 15-49 have little to no access to abortion care in many states, even when their lives are in jeopardy.
