explains how the attacks on reproductive rights impact black women more severely. Increasing U.S. abortion bans after the Dobbs decision have worsened “a maternal health crisis in this country,” she continued. “Even having the legal right to something does not grant access. Before Dobbs, we had areas or states like Mississippi that only had one abortion clinic, and the Hyde Amendment” banning federal funding through Medicaid to cover almost all abortions. In the first half of 2023, nearly one in five patients were traveling out of state for abortion care, compared with one in 10 in 2020. “This is a crisis worsened by additional barriers like contraception deserts, inequitable access to sex education, law enforcement brutality, and preventing Medicaid expansion in states with abortion bans,” said Simpson. To chart a way forward is to reduce the stigma around abortion, and to do so “we have to be willing to say the word abortion,” she continued. At last week’s State of the Union, “the President could not even say it — though he said the fight would continue in his leadership. We have to not think that this is a bad word. Abortion care is health care, and all that’s on the table for us across our reproductive lives.” Domestic work “In the U.S. every day, 10,000 children are born and approximately 10,000 people turn 65. We’re living longer than ever before, and so we need more care than ever,” said Ai-Jen Poo, president of the National Domestic Workers Alliance. “Yet, we don’t have a national affordable child care program, a federal paid family and medical leave program or a long-term care benefit.” Ai-Jen Poo, President of the National Domestic Workers Alliance, discusses the dire need for care workers in the United States, and our over-reliance on women to fill gap. “What we have is 53 million overstretched family caregivers who are mostly women, and over 7 million care workers who are underpaid and are overwhelmingly women — about 90% women, and mostly women of color,” she continued. The median annual income for a U.S. homecare worker is $23,000 per year. “It’s hard to picture supporting yourself and raising a family in this country on poverty wages without benefits, health insurance, child care and paid time off, which is why expanded care access is so urgent,” Poo said. “The 11 million women in the U.S. who are in the generation sandwiched between caring for young children and caring for aging parents are especially feeling the brunt of this.” “These are jobs that can’t be automated or outsourced, at least anytime soon; they’ll be a large share of jobs in the future,” she added. “The pandemic exposed our epidemic of low-wage work — how women struggling to make ends meet are essential workers for our health and society. Now, we need to value them as essential.” Gun control The national epidemic of gun violence, too, is motivating women to vote for a safer future. “In America, there’s a gun for every man, woman, child and dog. There are more guns than people and more gun dealers than all Starbucks and McDonald’s combined,” said Shikha Hamilton, Vice President of Organizing at Brady. “It’s not a mental health or domestic violence issue. The problem is easy access.” In California in the past 30 years, for example, legislation restricting this access has reduced gun death by 50%. If the rest of the country would follow, 19,000 lives would be saved. Shikha Hamilton, Vice President of Organizing at Brady, says the Million Mom March, one of the largest protests on guns, illustrates the enormous impact women can have on politics and legislation.
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