As the threat of the overturning of Roe V. Wade looms, many of us have been thinking hard about our and our loved ones’ rights and wellbeing. Part of that is honoring a person’s right to seek support both when they decide to have a baby and when they decide not to.
For Black women, this era is a particularly fraught one when considering autonomy and respect. When Black Americans do decide to have babies, they often do so at their own risk. Black women live with the highest rates of death and risk and face persistent racism and misogyny from within the medical system. According to the CDC, “Black women are three times more likely to die from a pregnancy-related cause than White women. Multiple factors contribute to these disparities, such as variation in quality healthcare, underlying chronic conditions, structural racism, and implicit bias.” Celebrities such as Beyoncé and Serena Williams have all spoken out about the mistreatment they survived giving birth that nearly took their lives.
