By Lynn Jones
The number of Black women suffering from maternal morbidity and mortality continues to rise causing physicians to sound the alarm. According to Dr. Washington Hill, Florida is one of the southern states with that dubious distinction. The Sarasota obstetrician-gynecologist has watched the malady grow in his fifty years of experience as a high-risk pregnancy physician.
The condition refers to health problems that result from pregnancy and childbirth and can lead to death. Because Black women in Florida die at three times the rate of White women, pregnancy is risky according to Hill. “It is clear that there are disparities in the outcomes of women in this country having babies. My data from Louisiana, data from Mississippi, and data from Florida made it clear that the outcomes of a Black woman having a baby in this country in most states are poor, worse — more sickness, more death — than a white woman.”
Those obstacles were just a precursor to the impact of the Florida abortion ban that took effect on May 1 of this year. The risks escalated for Anya Cook. She was desperate for help and rushed to a Coral Gables emergency room bleeding heavily after a miscarriage. All the symptoms and complications were there. She had lost half of the blood in her body. But instead of receiving what was considered standard care, she was sent home with a prescription for antibiotics.
Dr. Hill says not only are Black Women disproportionately burdened with preexisting health conditions, but discrimination is also a major factor derailing the treatment of their healthcare needs. “ Other factors are how the women are treated, how they’re taken care of, and this is due to racism, and explicit and implicit bias. Unless we recognize that exists, and do something about it, the disparities will never change.”
But the abortion ban law is so severe it blocks a common surgical procedure that follows a miscarriage or the removal of a weeks-old fetus that will not survive. Anya almost died. The loss of life-saving treatment has disappeared because doctors refuse to act fearing severe penalties and jail time. This leaves women like Anya to face death or an end to her ability to bear children.
In 2018 as a US Senator, Vice President Kamala Harris joined Florida US Senator Bill Nelson in sponsoring legislation to combat maternal morbidity and mortality among Black women. That fight is ongoing because the abortion ban has compounded horror stories and deaths untold among pregnant Black women. Women advocates say the November ballot will offer lifesaving relief with the passage of Constitution Amendment 4. The amendment will reverse the abortion ban restoring the freedom to decide the best treatment for a woman’s healthcare needs.
