On November 9th 2020, Pregnancy Justice alongside Ancient Song Doula Services, Brooklyn Defender Services, The Bronx Defenders, Movement for Family Power and the New York Civil Liberties Union submitted a collective testimony to show support of the New York State Senate Committee on Women's Issues efforts to improve maternal and child health outcomes.
Together we are a coalition of advocacy and defense organizations that work collaboratively to eliminate discrimination at the intersection of reproductive health and child welfare. Our comments thereby raise the often unexplored, yet critical connection between discriminatory drug testing in health care settings, involvement by the family regulation system that results in harmful family separation, and the deleterious consequences for maternal and infant health and well-being. Improving maternal health outcomes requires eliminating structural discrimination and medical racism. We need courage and holistic approaches to undo and heal the stigma and violence perpetuated by this country’s history of racism, classism, patriarchy and ableism. This is a necessary piece of any robust dialogue around maternal health, and we urge this committee to explore bold and creative solutions that ensure care at birth is non-discriminatory, culturally responsive, respectful, supportive, and patient-informed.
See our full testimony here