Last week was Black Maternal Health Week, which reproductive justice activists started in 2018 to raise awareness of the grim fact that maternal mortality rates for Black women are up to three times higher than they are for white women. For the first time ever, the White House also joined in, with President Joe Biden issuing a proclamation noting that “America’s maternal mortality rates are among the highest in the developed world” and calling on “all Americans to recognize the importance of addressing the crisis of Black maternal mortality and morbidity in this country.”

The reasons for this crisis are multifaceted. As Vice President Kamala Harris explained in an interview with STAT, “systemic disparities and implicit bias” in health care are major contributors. She also explained that the White House is committed to “investing in social determinants that we know influence maternal health, such as housing, transportation, and nutrition.” A new study published in the medical journal Contraception points to another […]