It’s time to bridge maternal health care and racial justice to save more Black lives.
“My fight is centering the voices of Black Moms, women, families and stakeholders in the maternal health space,” writes Massachusetts state Rep. Liz Miranda. During my very first week as a state legislator, advocates gave a presentation to all of us new lawmakers about theon the health of Black moms and their babies. I was only one of two Black women in the room, and I quickly realized that what they were telling me was that simply because I am Black, I had a greater chance of dying from childbirth. with troubling Black maternal outcomes—and six out of 10 of them were in my district.
I made a commitment that day that I was going to work with everyone possible to save more Black women and babies. I want to be a mother one day, and there are too many women of color in this state who have and will suffer in childbirth because of structural racism in health care. My fight is centering the voices of Black Moms, women, families and stakeholders in the maternal health space.
Reproductive justice is racial justice; we cannot do this work in silos. Our response to stark racial inequities in maternal health must start with policy solutions that center and place anti-racism at the forefront. Legislatures were not designed to center Black women—they were designed to exclude us. I am working to change that in Massachusetts.