Protect Black Women From Reproductive Injustice
When we discuss reproductive justice, our minds immediately go to the major issue of reproductive rights. While this is one of the core elements of reproductive justice, it can be viewed as just the tip of the unequally distributed iceberg that Black women often face when dealing with healthcare concerns. Bringing into question whether or not the healthcare services we seek to access are legal and available in our areas is one of many that have plagued Black women for decades. Comprehensive reproductive healthcare has been a luxury that has consistently escaped Black women of all social-economic statuses and classes.
What Is Reproductive Justice?
Reproductive justice is more than equal access to safe abortions. It also encompasses access to affordable contraceptives, comprehensive sexual health education, and freedom from sexual violence. All of these elements are impacted by the social, political, and economic climate in which we live. Those with political clout and financial power orchestrate the governing system of who, when, where, how, and why healthcare services are accessed, available, afforded, and at what level they are acceptable. This creates a strategic omission of Black women in the narrative by default and design.
Women have historically been a marginalized group, but when you add the intersection of race into the mix, we find ourselves on the bottom rung clamoring for fairness and equality.
Black women experience higher rates of maternal mortality, decreased access to contraceptive interventions, and face racial disparities in the quality and affordability of reproductive health services. We do not sit in many positions of power; thus, the decisions are made in our absence while impacting us the greatest.
Inaccessibility To Quality Reproductive & Sexual Healthcare
We fall victim to these harsh realities not simply because of our residential zip code but because of a systemic mindset of what Black women will accept, what we have a right to receive, and pure indifference to our needs. If a service is available but not affordable, accessible, and acceptable by those who need it, is it truly available? And, if it is not available in your immediate area but is affordable elsewhere, is it truly accessible? To have a just system, it must meet all requirements; availability, accessibility, affordability, and acceptability by those which it is designed to serve.
A Politicized Healthcare System Restricts Care
The healthcare system has become a system of inaccessible, restrictive, and politicized care that leads to poor reproductive health outcomes for marginalized groups grappling with life circumstances and competing priorities. We see more Black women living in poverty, with limited resources to navigate an already unwelcoming, biased, and often punitive healthcare system only to be ignored, discounted, or blatantly denied access. While Black women of means are finding themselves caught in a proverbial hamster wheel of disbelief, constant referrals, and a cold bedside manner of care.
Let’s End Racism & Sexism In Healthcare
The reproductive injustice we see today is a direct result of a system created upon politically approved and legally enforced inequality towards Black women. Black women have a longstanding history of being the caretakers of the world. Is it too much to access once the system prioritizes us, as we have done for everyone else?
Everyone, regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation, or spiritual belief system, deserves high-quality, accessible, and affordable healthcare. Therefore, part of Lala's Bedtime Tales mission is to provide a safe space and judgment-free zone to educate yourself on sexual health & wellness. The Sexual Health & Wellness corner will have monthly articles dedicated to continuous education on living a positive and sexually healthy lifestyle. Subscribe to Lala's Bedtime Tales Newsletter and follow @LalasBedtimeTales on social media to never miss any sexual education to help you live the healthiest life possible. Also, check out Lala's Bedtime Tales Podcast and Lala's Oh So Exclusive Patreon account for even more content! If you’re browsing for sexy pleasure products or cute giftable items, then check out Lala’s Pleasure Shop.
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