Options Exist to Close the Reproductive Health Gap for Women of Color

Ensuring that Americans have adequate health care is a growing concern among leaders in the states. Access to reproductive health care is a critical component of health care for women, families and communities. As these issues are debated, state legislators must place a high priority on addressing the alarming gaps and disparities in reproductive health care for women of color. Consider these facts:

·Two-thirds of HIV-positive women in America are African Americans and Latinas.
·The rate of unintended pregnancies for Latinas is nearly two times, and for black women almost three times, the rate for white women.
·Women of color experience significantly higher rates of infant mortality than white women.

"It’s about time to eliminate barriers that have created a two-tiered discriminatory system that disproportionately impacts the reproductive lives of low-income women and women of color," declared Leslie Watson, Director of the Campaign for Access and Reproductive Equity.

There are several obstacles that women of color face in accessing reproductive health care:

Lack of health coverage. Lack of health coverage is one of the main obstacles to improving reproductive health for women of color. Twenty-three percent of African-American women, 42 percent of Latinas, and 25 percent of Asian-American women lack health insurance, compared to 13 percent of white women. As a result, minority women disproportionately lack access to reproductive health care, including medically appropriate contraceptives, annual gynecological exams, and prenatal care.

Inadequate reproductive health care through government programs. Women of color who rely on Medicaid and other government health programs also tend to receive inadequate reproductive health care. For instance, one study found that two out of three Medicaid managed care plans failed to routinely provide information to enrollees on specific methods of contraception covered. What’s worse, some hospitals and doctors have unlawfully refused to provide pain-relieving epidurals during childbirth to women on Medicaid who could not afford to pay hundreds of dollars in cash for the procedure.

Lack of cultural competence in the system. Another cause of inadequate care stems from the lack of culturally appropriate care. More than one in four minority adults report having difficulties in receiving health care due to language barriers. Research has shown that interventions aimed at reducing the prevalence of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) among women of color are more likely to be effective if they are culturally relevant. However, a recent study found that only eight percent of American medical schools teach separate courses about cultural issues.

Legislators have a series of options to close the gap in access to, and quality of, reproductive health care for women of color. A new policy model available from CPA, developed in partnership with NARAL, the Campaign for Access and Reproductive Equity (CARE 2000) and other reproductive health organizations, is designed to end health care discrimination, ensure safe childbirth, lower infant mortality rates, reduce unintended pregnancies, and prevent the spread of sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV/AIDS.

To ensure healthier communities and promote equitable health care, states must take advantage of policies to increase the quality of and access to reproductive health care for all women.

The model "Women of Color and Families Protection Act" mandates that states: ·Provide coverage for all necessary reproductive health services in state-funded insurance programs. ·Prevent discrimination against women of color in the delivery of obstetric care. ·Study racial and ethnic disparities in maternal complications and mortality, since the maternal mortality rate among black women is four times that of white women. ·Provide grants for STD/HIV education programs targeting counties with the highest rates of STD/HIV infection. ·Guarantee coverage for an annual chlamydia screening in state-funded insurance programs. African-American women’s chlamydia rate is nine times the rate for white women. ·Require schools of health to provide cultural competency training as a requirement for graduation.

For more information, read CPA’s full policy brief on reproductive health for women of color.