Abortion attacks aren’t slowing down as Florida’s six-week ban goes into effect and Arizona’s Supreme Court recently paved the way to reinforce a Civil War-era law that criminalizes nearly all abortions. The consequences could be catastrophic for Black reproductive health, exacerbating existing disparities in access to care and alarming rates of maternal mortality, advocates and […]
Reproductive Health
Posted inMaternal Health, Reproductive Health
What Comes Next in the Battle for Emergency Abortion Care Access
When the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, the media flooded with cases of women who had been denied abortion care during emergency situations, putting their lives at risk. Whether pregnant patients have the constitutional right to abortion care when their health is severely at risk is at the heart of Idaho […]
Posted inHealth, Reproductive Health
What You Need to Know About Birth Control With Misinformation on the Rise
It’s been a tricky landscape since Roe v. Wade was overturned almost two years ago, as reproductive health care has become increasingly complicated to navigate — and misinformation is on the rise. Not only are the attacks on abortion care merging with limits on the availability of infertility treatment, but the same court that reversed […]
Posted inHealth, Reproductive Health
The Attack on IVF Is a Pandora’s Box for Black Families
Maybe it was the fact that the car he bought his wife, Anya, sat so low to the ground that she could feel every bump on the road. Or the fact that where they used to live, she had to climb up and down too many stairs. Maybe, he thought, they were just doing too […]
Posted inHealth, Reproductive Health
A Miscarriage, a Grand Jury, and the Policing of Black Women’s Bodies
The case of a Black woman in Ohio who’s been charged after a miscarriage confirms reproductive activists’ fears in a post-Roe era: that women’s pregnancies, especially Black women, would be criminalized. Brittany Watts miscarried 22 weeks into her pregnancy in September. The 33-year-old woman went to her doctor, who told her she would miscarry — and […]
Posted inHealth, Reproductive Health
80% of Black Women Experience Fibroids. Does Racial Trauma Play a Role?
This story was produced in partnership with Vox as part of the discrimination issue of The Highlight. Comedian Dulcé Sloan took to Twitter recently with a burning health question: “Soooo EVERY black woman has fibroids,” she wrote, injecting a bit of hyperbole, “and no one knows why?!” The tweet sparked a flurry of responses theorizing why 80% of […]
Posted inHealth, Reproductive Health
Amid Abortion Bans, Black Americans’ Support Remains
As abortion restrictions intensify across the U.S., Americans are more likely to say it should be easier to obtain an abortion than they were in 2019, a recent Pew Research Center survey reveals. And Black Americans are among the most likely to say abortion should be legal in all or most cases. Since the U.S. […]
Posted inHealth, Reproductive Health
What is Polycystic Ovary Syndrome, and Why Does It Go Underdiagnosed in Black Women?
My body stiffened at the news I received from my OB-GYN. I had been anxiously waiting for the results from a uterine ultrasound, a test that I desperately hoped would get to the root of my immensely painful and irregular periods. I had suffered in silence for years, then spent at least one more traveling […]
Posted inHealth, Reproductive Health
How Florida Restricting Abortion Access Affects Black People in the South
Florida’s law prohibiting most abortions statewide after six weeks has ignited fear among those who say the ban could have catastrophic — and potentially life-threatening — impacts on Black women’s health. Since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned 1973’s Roe v. Wade decision last summer, access to abortion in the South has become increasingly limited. It’s […]
Posted inHealth, Reproductive Health
What’s Missing From the ‘Abortion Pill’ Conversation
Two conflicting rulings on the legality of a drug often used to end pregnancies or manage miscarriages have many wondering how this could impact reproductive health care access for Black families in the months to come. Last Friday, a federal judge in Texas ruled that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s long-standing approval of the […]
