Poor, Black, and Latina women hardest hit by attacks against abortion rights

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ways. Poor women, young women, and women ot oppressed minorities will be of oppressed minorities will be the main victims of these restrictions.' SOCIALIST ACTION DECEMBER 1989 ≤ first of a iwo-part series.

The old slogan of the labor movement, "an injury to one is an injury to all," should be embraced by the revitalized women's movement.

For many years, poor women—a disproportionate number of whom are women of oppressed minorities—have been denied the right to choose abortion and to exercise any control over their reproductive lives. And once again, as governmental bodies attempt to further erode women's right to choose, these are the women who will be most in danger.

The July 1989 Webster decision gave room to the state legislatures to place even tighter restrictions on abortion rights. Three more cases involving restrictions on abortion are pending before the Supreme Court. While such efforts were recently defeated in Florida, the Pennsylvania legislature passed the most restrictive laws in the country.

Cuts in public funding During the last decade, cutoff of government funds has made abortion inaccessible to many low-income women. After Congress passed the Hyde Amendment in 1977 (which prohibited federal tax dollars from being spent on abortion), the number of low-income women who had access to abortion fell drastically. From October 1976 to September 1971, 294,600 women had federally funded abortions. In 1987, only 75 federally funded abortions were performed; in 1988, 84 were.

From 1977 to late 1981, exemptions to the restrictions were made if the woman's life was endangered by continuing the pregnancy or if she was the victim of rape or incest. Since late 1981, however, only women whose lives were certified to be at risk were able to have federally funded abortions.

Shortly after the Hyde Amendment went into effect, hospitals reported an increase in women appearing with infections and other signs of self-induced abortions. Just as in the pre-1973 period, however, no one seems to have statistics on the deaths of poor women.

Activists in the pro-choice movement are familiar with the case of Rosie Jimenez, who is the first known woman to die as a result of the Hyde Amendment. Unable to receive a safe, federally funded abortion, Jimenez sought out a back-alley abortionist and died from a septic infection. Rosie Jimenez Day is commemorated by pro-choice activists every year.

Most states have also passed restrictions which prohibit state monies to be used to terminate unwanted pregnancies. While 13 states still fund abortions for poor women, four do so only under court order.

A 1987 statement by the North Carolina American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) says that low-income women who are denied public funding for abortion generally delay the procedure for two to three weeks, thereby increasing the risk of health complications. Eighteen percent to 35 percent of these women carry these pregnancies to term.

In 1987, the Committee to Defend Reproductive Rights (CDRR) estimated that 80,000 women in California alone could not get abortions without some type of government funding. One-third of these women were teenagers.

Limited access to healthcare By 1980, more and more women were falling below the poverty line. By official standards, two out of three poor adults were women, and over half of poor families were headed by women.

Contrary to popular belief, many poor women do not qualify for Medicaid or other federal aid programs. In 1980, for example, Medicaid covered only 39.1 percent of the U.S. population living below the official poverty line.

When it comes to obstetrical and gynecological care, it is difficult for poor women to find physicians willing to care for them; the number of specialists who treat Medicaid patients or uninsured women is declining nationally.

According to a 1985 study by the Alan Guttmacher Institute, four out of 10 obstetriEIGHTTO CICE CH ABONTION RIGHIS DOWER ARTNERS "The impact of the undermine the right cians would not accept Medicaid payment, citing concerns over low payment rates by the government and liability issues. The study concluded that the health of mothers is suffering because of a lack of access to prenatal care.

A 1987 study showed that 34 percent of pregnant women receive inadequate prenatal care. Fifty-one percent of pregnant Black women and 47 percent of pregnant Latinas receive insufficient prenatal care. Twenty-five percent to 30 percent of inner-city Black women have no access to prenatal care.

Among other effects, lack of adequate prenatal care greatly increases the risk of a lowbirth-weight baby. Each year, 6000 more Black babies die than white babies in the same geographical areas. Low birth weights are one of the major factors in these deaths.

In 1981, the Black infant-mortality rate was 25.5 percent, while the white rate was 14.1 percent. For all women of oppressed minorities combined, the mortality rate among newborns is about twice that of white babies.

Effects of Court decisions The impact of the Webster decision can undermine the right to abortion in several ways (some of which are listed below). Poor women, young women, and women of oppressed minorities will be the main victims of these restrictions.

1) The Court upheld viability testing procedures for women more than 20 weeks pregnant. They did this despite overwhelming Joseph Ryan/Socialist Action medical evidence that the point of viability has not changed significantly since 1973. Fetuses cannot survive outside a woman's womb before about 24 weeks.

While fewer than 1 percent of abortions are performed after the 20th week, the women most likely to have late abortions are young women (who don't realize or deny at first that they are pregnant) and poor women (who must wait until they have the money). The fetal testing requirement will cost an additional $125 to $450 and can delay abortions by several days.

2) The Court, reasoning that states may legally prefer childbirth to abortion, ruled that states may prohibit public funding for abortions. They may also prohibit public hospitals and their staffs from performing any abortions.

For example, in Missouri (where the Webster case originated) 97 percent of secondtrimester abortions were performed at one private hospital. Because this hospital leases its land from a public body, it may no longer perform abortions.

About 3 percent of all abortions are performed in hospitals rather than in clinics. According to the National Abortion Federation, most women who must be hospitalized for abortion have health problems such as high blood pressure, diabetes, and AIDS. These are many of the conditions that plague women of oppressed minorities.

High blood pressure, for example, is 82 percent higher among all oppressed minority women than among white women. This chronic condition is associated with up to 30 percent of maternal deaths in childbirth and up to 20 percent of perinatal deaths.

Currently, while community hospitals are not required to perform abortions, they can decide for themselves whether to offer hospital abortion services. Almost half of all city and county hospitals and 65 percent of all state hospitals now provide them. If a state legislature enacts a law like the Missouri one, all of these public hospitals can be prohibited from doing any abortions.

"Life begins at conception"

3) The Supreme Court let stand a preamble to the Missouri law that proclaims that life begins at conception. So-called "right-to-life" forces have long tried to make a fetus's life legally equal to that of a woman's. If both "lives" are equal, the state decides which has priority. This could seriously effect women's lives in several areas.

According to the Legal Defense and Education Fund of the National Organization for Women (NOW), since July 1989 at least 20 women nationally have been ordered by courts to deliver unwanted pregnancies by Caesarean section.

In at least one of these cases, the court based its ruling on the idea that life begins at conception. In other cases, attorneys used child-neglect statutes to compel the surgery— despite considerable health risks to both mother and infant from C-sections.

The women most likely to be involved in these forced Caesareans have been oppressed minority women. Of the 21 requests for court orders forcing this surgery, 81 percent of the women were Black, Latina, or Asian.

Drug laws target women Recently, several women have lost custody of their children, either temporarily or permanently, when evidence showed that they used drugs or alcohol during pregnancy. To do this, laws on child-abuse and child-neglect have been interpreted by states to include fetuses.

Several state and local governments are enacting laws to jail pregnant women for drug abuse. Women who are afraid of prosecution, however, are less likely to seek medical care.

A proposed law in Butte County, Calif., for example, would require pregnant women to enter drug-treatment programs or face a mandatory jail sentence. Legislatures continue to pass these laws and courts continue to prosecute women, despite the fact that most drug treatment centers don't accept pregnant women or provide childcare for their other children.

A survey published by NOW in July 1989 showed that of 78 drug treatment centers in New York City, 54 percent turned away addicted women who said they were pregnant. Sixty-seven percent refused to treat pregnant women on Medicaid, and 87 percent refused treatment to Medicaid recipients who were addicted to crack.

As the pro-choice movement fights to keep abortion safe and legal, it must be mindful of the situation faced by poor women and women of oppressed minorities. These women—who are most in need of familyplanning services and prènatal medical care find these facilities to be least accessible to them.

In addition, sterilization programs (as part of racist population-control efforts) have victimized countless oppressed-minority women. This topic will be explored in detail in the next issue of Socialist Action.

The Way T Abortion By Carok Seligman Rights $1.65 (includes postage)

Order fron Walnut Publishing Co., San Francisco

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Webster decision can to abortion in several victims of these restrictions.