Black maternal health rally
“Black women are ignored by healthcare providers when we are in pain. We are told we don’t feel pain like people of other races.” -Kearra Haynes
On Monday, Anyra Cano, Fellowship Southwest’s director of programs and outreach, joined Friendship-West Baptist Church in Austin for their advocacy day and the Maternal Health Rally. Friendship-West centered the voices of Black women and the injustices they face in the current health system.
Black women are three times more likely to die in pregnancy, childbirth, and postpartum due to racial inequalities and biases.
“We are advocating for just policies that honor the humanity of Black women (and) Black mothers,” Haynes said. “We are standing on moral authority to urge those in positions of legislative power to resist the urge for complacency in their hearts and minds of neglect and structural violence.”
Some of the testimonies shared at the rally included women in childbirth who were neglected and left unattended without medical support. Women in postpartum were not offered the same services as white women. Yet, both ladies were healthcare providers who knew their rights and how to advocate for themselves. Those in attendance were challenged to think about the women who do not know their rights in healthcare.
Pastor Freddy Haynes of Friendship-West called on Governor Abbott to support bills that expand health care for women during pregnancy, childbirth, and postpartum. These include House Bill 1664, which directs the state to study maternal mortality and morbidity among Black women in Texas, and SB134, which would expand Medicaid for new mothers up to 12 months after giving birth.
As one of the speakers proclaimed, “If Black women are taken care of, everyone will be taken care of.”
Racial justice is a priority for Fellowship Southwest. Therefore, we want to make you aware of these injustices affecting black women and their communities and ask that you contact your Texas legislators to support bills like the ones mentioned above.
You can read more about the rally from this DFW-area article: