As Black women physicians, we too often witness injustice causing inhumane health care for our patients, families and communities. The failure to address social determinants of health such as housing, education, employment and access to quality health care often makes it impossible for us as physicians to heal the sick or prevent more suffering. Government-sanctioned laws, policies and practices that allow oppression and discrimination to thrive also disproportionately burden marginalized and minority people with worst health outcomes. 

          Therefore, we must speak up and speak out about the recent decisions handed down by the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS). By overturning Roe v. Wade, there are now far fewer options for anyone seeking safe reproductive healthcare in low-income and rural communities. This can only widen disparities in access to quality care across the country, especially for Black birthing people. As the only developed nation with a worsening maternal health score, the United States cannot afford to create more barriers to health care. This is one of the reasons why we choose to call out the hypocrisy. Some political leaders proclaim the sanctity of life for fetuses yet block Medicaid expansion and coverage of pregnant people (and their children) in the postpartum period. The refusal of these leaders to acknowledge and dismantle the systems and structures of racial oppression driving inequities in health outcomes reveals their indefensibly narrow definitions of “life” and “lives saved.” 

            Purposefully increasing the vulnerability of Black, Indigenous, Latina and other marginalized patients seeking health care is unacceptable. The overturning of Roe v. Wade dangerously disrupts the patient-physician relationship and may exacerbate patient mistrust of the medical community. As physicians, we simply cannot acquiesce to decisions that interfere with how we care for these vulnerable patients nor should we experience adverse legal ramifications for practicing evidence-based medicine solely decided by where state boundaries begin and end.

           However, the real and present danger of this ruling goes far beyond the issue of abortions. The decision explicitly denied any fundamental right for a woman to make private and personal decisions about her body and her health. Even more worrisome, Justice Clarence Thomas openly opined that the judicial argument used to overturn Roe v. Wade warranted reconsidering and reversing other past SCOTUS decisions, such as the right to use birth control. ABWP, however, stands in solidarity with the reproductive justice movement and all people in the fight for the power to retain agency in our health decisions. In doing so, we also demand that Black and other marginalized women move from the periphery of the “pro-choice” movement into a place of recognition and prioritization. “Pro-choice” must include tackling uncomfortable racial issues such as systematic sterilization, punitive welfare reform, systematic imprisonment of minoritized populations, and LGBTQ+ rights – all of which influence who has privilege in making sexual and reproductive choices.

            ABWP also recognizes that we cannot merely vacillate through anger, shock and horror about the overturning of Roe v. Wade. Two subsequent SCOTUS rulings confirmed the urgent need for OUR alarm and action. The Castro-Huerta case struck a major blow to the sovereignty of Native American tribes by granting the state of Oklahoma authority to prosecute non-Native Americans who commit crimes against Native Americans on tribal lands. This decision completely disregarded precedent for the right of Native American tribes to remain free from state interference with their governance. The other SCOTUS decision gutted the authority of the Environmental Protection Agency to take actions that address climate change. Similar to Roe v. Wade, the EPA decision now provides a judicial argument for limiting how the EPA and other federal agencies act to protect the health and wellbeing of U.S. citizens, particularly those with limited political and financial power in this country. 

            Like our elders and ancestors before us, we refuse to accept a status of second-class citizenship. We know our advocacy must include the doctor’s office and the voter’s booth. We act in solidarity with grassroots organizations experienced in fighting for reproductive health justice. We stand up for ourselves as Black women and as physicians who believe injustice has no place in the patient exam room. Millions of vulnerable people are depending on us as Black women physicians to speak and act. We are encouraged by President Biden’s recent executive order protecting access to reproductive healthcare services. This action will help protect our patients. As physicians, we will also continue to advocate for health justice and support actions that save lives.