On the tenth anniversary of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), we want to make one thing perfectly clear: the ACA is the greatest advancement for women’s health in a generation.
Statement by In Our Own Voice: National Black Women’s Reproductive Justice Agenda Founder and President Marcela Howell
WASHINGTON — Today, the Trump administration announced an overhaul of the Medicaid program that could deny or limit benefits and may result in reducing enrollment in the program, particularly in states hostile to the Affordable Care Act (ACA) that want to limit expenses. In Our Own Voice: National Black Women’s Reproductive Justice Agenda Founder and President Marcela Howell issued the following statement in support of access to affordable, quality health care:
Statement from In Our Own Voice: National Black Women’s Reproductive Justice Agenda
WASHINGTON — Yesterday evening, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit struck down the mandatory coverage requirement of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), leaving a lower court to decide if the rest of the landmark legislation can remain without the requirement. Marcela Howell, founder and president of In Our Own Voice: National Black Women’s Reproductive Justice Agenda, issued the following statement in response:
By Racine Tucker-Hamilton, VP of Communications
Repealing the Hyde amendment, Medicare for all, voter suppression, and housing were just a few of the hot topics discussed at the first-ever women of color congressional town hall, “Women of Color Lead the Way: Building Power on the Ground and in Congress” on Oct. 24.
BY MARCELA HOWELL AND JANETTE ROBINSON-FLINT, OPINION CONTRIBUTORS — 04/22/18 10:30 AM EDT
Environmental policy in the age of the Trump administration and Scott Pruitt’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has proved to be devastating, with a long list of first year actions designed at dismantling basic protections. These actions range from rolling back Obama-era regulations that tackled climate change to limiting funding to our communities attempting to address environmental risks.
Historically, low-income communities, predominately communities of color, have faced the most severe burdens of environmental hazards that are made worse as the government takes huge steps backwards in regulations.
As the nation watches the EPA’s actions, Earth Day should not only be a day to celebrate our planet and protect our natural environment, but should also serve as a harsh reminder of how environmental racism continues to burden black communities, specifically black women.
Republicans have now tried and failed three times to pass health care bills that would dismantle the Affordable Care Act — and potentially cut access to health care for millions. We’ve seen the introduction of hundreds of new reproductive health restrictions and insistent efforts to defund Planned Parenthood. In the midst of the GOP’s attack on women’s health, Charleena Lyles was killed by police. She was a pregnant Black woman who called the cops to her home for protection only to fall victim to their bullets. This is the unique kind of challenge black women face where health and state-sanctioned violence intersect.
After the final nail was hammered in the coffin of the zombie-like Republican healthcare bill in the Senate, President Trump suggested that his party wait out the collapse of the federal insurance market, repeal the Affordable Care Act in the meantime, and eventually introduce a new plan “that will start from a clean slate.”
Marcela Howell, Executive Director, In Our Own Voice: National Black Women’s Reproductive Justice Agenda
Next week, two things will happen. On January 16, we will celebrate the birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr. and his vision of equality and activism. Then four days later, on January 20, we will see Donald J. Trump become the 45th President of the United States.
For many of us, this second event is a tragedy – a step backward to a time in America’s history when white hostility and violence directed at people of color was an everyday occurrence. In truth, those days aren’t in our past—certainly not when that hate is being stoked by the next President.
By Janette Robinson Flint, executive director of Black Women for Wellness
Cross-posted in LA Sentinel, November 20, 2015
When breathing is easy, we can think, create, and live fuller lives. But for many communities in Los Angeles, breathing is easier said than done. There are days where I look out the window, and can’t see the mountains that surround Los Angeles. On those days, I unconsciously avoid looking at the air we are breathing, yet I know that the smog will be heavier in the lungs of children in my community who have asthma.
The 2014 midterm elections are tomorrow. Either through early voting, absentee ballots or at polling places on November 4, citizens across the country will cast votes for candidates who will have the state, local or federal constitutional power to make policies that could affect all of our lives. Interestingly, this election cycle has a record setting 100 Black candidates running for state and congressional offices– the most seen in any cycle since Reconstruction.
