Black women
Medical exceptions to abortion bans often exclude mental health conditions
If you are in need of support, call or text the National Maternal Mental Health Hotline at 1-833-TLC-MAMA (1-833-852-6262) for free, confidential and 24/7 support, or dial 988 for the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. More than a dozen states now have near-total abortion bans following the overturning of Roe v. Wade, with limited medical exceptions meant to […]
Dangers and deaths around black pregnancies seen as a ‘completely preventable’ health crisis
HOUSTON — Tonjanic Hill was overjoyed in 2017 when she learned she was 14 weeks pregnant. Despite a history of uterine fibroids, she never lost faith that she would someday have a child. But, just five weeks after confirming her pregnancy, and the day after a gender-reveal party where she announced she was having a […]
Black maternal mortality in Arkansas rose 110% in two decades, study shows
The rate at which Black women in Arkansas die during childbirth or within a year of giving birth rose 110% from 1999 to 2019, according to a study published Monday in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Nationally, “maternal mortality remains unacceptably high among all racial and ethnic groups,” but American Indian, Alaska Native […]
States see record low unemployment across the U.S.
Across much of the country, the jobs market is as strong as it’s ever been, and Black women, young people and people with disabilities are among the workers benefiting, recent U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data show. Twenty states reported an unemployment rate under 3% in April, while 15 states saw record lows, led by […]
‘Abortion absolutely is healthcare’: U.S. House panel told as GOP pursues nationwide ban
A nationwide abortion ban would widen disparities in healthcare and drive up the maternal mortality rate, particularly among Black women, physicians and advocates told a U.S. House panel on Thursday. “Women’s progress has always been inextricably linked with the ability to control our own bodies,” Jocelyn Frye, the president of the National Partnership for Women […]
A tale of two missing Memphis women
I took last week off as a vacation with the intent of clearing my mind. I largely stayed off social media and limited my exposure to news, for even those of us in the news business need a ‘‘timeline cleanser,’’ to use a popular phrase. But no vacation caused me to miss the tragic events […]