Capturing Black Health & Wellness for longer lives

Amani D. Echols earned her MPH within the University of Michigan’s Department of Health Management and Policy. Currently, Amani is a Behavioral Health Policy Fellow at the Association of Maternal & Child Health Programs (AMCHP). Outside of work, Amani is a trained pregnancy loss and abortion doula who volunteers her time as a case manager at the DC Abortion Fund (DCAF). The DC Abortion fund makes grants to pregnant people in DC, Maryland, and Virginia and those traveling to these jurisdictions who cannot afford the total cost of an abortion. The content in this article is the opinions of Amani and is not associated with AMCHP or DCAF.

JLD: Amani, given the possibility of the U.S. Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade, what do you anticipate being the most significant consequences regarding “choice” for Black women in particular and women in general?

ADE: Often, choice is conflated with opportunity. However, RJ focuses on “access” and not “choice,” and Roe v Wade is a perfect example of this critical distinction. Roe v Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey protect a person’s decision to terminate a pregnancy as a constitutional right until fetal viability (about 23-24 weeks). That said, Roe v Wade never guaranteed people meaningful access to abortion and to exercise their rights. For example, states have enacted laws such as waiting periods and regulations against abortion providers (also known as TRAP laws) that prevent access to timely and essential abortion care. Additionally, many people live in counties with no abortion provider. These barriers to access are exacerbated for people with lower income and in southern states where Black people are concentrated in.

In sum, repealing Roe v Wade would eliminate people’s right and access to abortion. The Turnaway Study outlines the significant adverse health and social consequences of carrying unwanted pregnancies to term. Pregnancy and childbirth are way more dangerous than abortion, with a greater likelihood of morbidity and mortality. Compared to other industrialized nations, the U.S. has the worst maternal health outcomes and is experiencing a Black maternal health crisis. For this reason, it is especially concerning that Black people, in particular, will be forced to give birth in the U.S. Furthermore, the social consequences of carrying an unwanted pregnancy to term include financial stressors (especially the concern of adequately providing for existing children), inability to pursue specific career/life goals, and being connected to an abusive partner. 

Another major consequence of overturning Roe v Wade is the criminalization of people who have an abortion, miscarriage, or stillbirth. In the media, there is rhetoric that people will go back to the “old days” of carrying out dangerous abortions in secret; however, these are tropes that stigmatize Black and Brown people. In today’s modern age and with access to medication abortion (the abortion pill) for up to 12 weeks, people will likely be able to access a safe abortion in states where it is legal and illegal. (Much like how illegal substances are found all over the country). That said, people could be penalized and incarcerated for having a medicated abortion, which is the greatest concern to many activists. Incarceration is never the social or health solution.

Lastly, overturning Roe v Wade can make vulnerable other constitutional rights built off Roe’s precedent and the establishment of the right to privacy (e.g., Griswold v. Connecticut - the right to marry whoever you’d like). 

JLD: In your bio, you mentioned volunteering at the DC Abortion Fund (DCAF). Can you share about your experience at DCAF?

ADE: Great question! I love sharing about the work that I do and am so passionate about. First, I’d like to make it clear that I am very much pro-abortion. People often say, “nobody is pro-abortion, they are only pro-choice.”  Unequivocally, I can say that is false. I am pro-abortion and I think it is important to not shy away from saying the word abortion…abortion, abortion, abortion. There is too much stigma around abortion despite it being so common. Everyone loves someone that has had an abortion. (These conversation cards are a tool to guide crucial dialogues about abortion and reduce stigma).

To play a larger role in this issue, I completed a Pregnancy Loss and Abortion Doula Training. As a pregnancy loss and abortion doula, my role is to offer physical, mental, and emotional support before, during, and after an abortion. I decided to take my training and new knowledge to DCAF. I am a volunteer Case Manager at DCAF. In this position, I answer phone calls from people seeking an abortion but cannot afford the total cost of the surgical or medical abortion. The organization provides funding based on a funding rubric. I also help individuals find a clinic near them, and connect them to practical support organizations (e.g., transportation, lodging, escorts, and resources for houselessness and domestic violence). On a daily basis, I work with other local funders to ensure that patients' co-pays are as close to $0 as possible. Roughly, I receive 5-10 calls per day and work 3-5 day-long shifts.

JLD: Amanda Gorman recently presented 8 reasons to stand against abortion bans.  Specifically, she said, “When the penalty for rape is less than the penalty for abortion after the rape, you know this isn’t about caring for women and girls. It’s about controlling them.

1. Through forcing them into motherhood before they’re ready, these bans steadily sustain the patriarchy, but also chain families in poverty and maintain economic inequality.

2. Pregnancy is a private and personal decision and should not require the permission of any politician.

3. For all time, regardless of whether it’s a crime, women have and will always seek their own reproductive destinies. All these penalties do is subdue women’s freedom to get healthy, safe services when they most need them.

4. Fight to keep Roe v. Wade alive. By the term ‘overturn Roe v. Wade‘, the main concern is that the Supreme Court will let states thwart a woman’s path to abortion with undue burdens.

5. One thing is true and certain: These predictions aren’t a distortion, hypothetical, or theoretical. Women already face their disproportion of undue burdens when seeking abortions. If the sexes and all people are to be equal, abortion has to be actually accessible and not just technically legal.

6. Despite what you might hear, this right here isn’t only about women and girls. This fight is about fundamental civil rights. Women are a big part of it, but at the heart of it are freedom over how fast our families grow goes farther and larger than any one of us. It’s about every single one of us.

7. This change can’t wait. We’ve got the energy, the moment, the movement, and the thundering numbers.

Would you please provide your final remarks as well as anything you care to state about Gorman’s above remarks.

ADE: Gorman’s response is complete and thorough. I’d like to add to this reflection via a poem I wrote the week of the leaked SCOTUS opinion.

There is More to Life than Being Alive

I must be violated to have autonomy over my body.

I Must B. Violated  to choose my reproductive health care.

I must be violated, raped, and near death, To make a decision about MY body.

Make it make sense!

No reason is needed. Fuck them kids is plenty.

Fuck them kids is the US mantra for black, brown, queer, disabled, immigrant, and lower-income people.

The same people who forced us to be sterilized as a form of eugenics want us to carry to term.

The contradictions.

I can choose to wear a mask to protect me and you but cannot choose my reproductive health care.

Abortion access, essential health care, is being restricted during a maternal mortality crisis.

Make it make sense.

I am valued for my perspective until it’s too progressive.

The contradictions don’t stop.

We won’t stop!

JLD:  Amani, your responses too are complete and thorough.  I sincerely appreciate the informed commitment you bring to your work.

Jack L. Daniel

Co-founder, Freed Panther Society

Contributor, Pittsburgh Urban Media

Author, Negotiating a Historically White University While Black

May 31,  2022

The Black Women’s Policy Center will host a Health & Wellness Brunch fundraiser from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. June 18 at the Triveni Center in Monroeville. Proceeds from the event will support its mission to be a leading source for Black women’s voices by empowering them through policy and advocacy work – with the goal of transforming the Greater Pittsburgh region into a place where Black women and girls won’t just survive but will thrive.

There will be a variety of programs centered on physical and mental health, wellness and self-care. The schedule includes a panel discussion with Black female therapists who will discuss mental health vs. mental illness; a yoga presentation by YogaRoots On Location founder Felicia Savage Friedman and a presentation by featured speaker Lydia Glaize from Atlanta. Attendees also will learn self-care tips and have access to free health screenings. Additionally, there will be time for connection and networking, chair and hand massages, food, prizes and giveaways.  

“Black women are the backbone of the Black community and typically put everything and everybody before themselves. The Health & Wellness Brunch is providing them with an opportunity to practice self-care, which is vital to our overall health and well-being,” says Rochelle Jackson, founder and director of the Black Women's Policy Center. “With this brunch, we want the women to have some good food and fellowship with other women, all while being enriched with knowledge and tools for maintaining good mental health. Most importantly, we are striving to remove the stigma attached to mental health and normalize it as a part of overall health and well-being.”

Tickets are $50 and can be purchased at blackwomemspolicycenter.org. Sponsorships and advertising opportunities also are available.