August 12, 2008
Health care inequality and abortion rates
In a commentary that appears in the Philadelphia Inquirer Melissa Gilliam writes:
Behind virtually every abortion is an unintended pregnancy. African American women have higher abortion rates than their white peers because they have much higher rates of unintended pregnancy - three times higher than those of white women. In other words, there is no need to resort to far-flung conspiracy theories to explain the higher abortion rate among black women.
But there's more to the story. Across the board, African Americans often have worse sexual- and reproductive-health outcomes than people from other racial groups. For example, we experience much higher rates of sexually transmitted infections. These disparate rates reflect broader health disparities that can be seen in high rates of diabetes, obesity, heart disease or cancer.
The root causes are manifold: a long history of discrimination; lack of access to high-quality, affordable health care; too few educational and professional opportunities; unequal access to safe, clean neighborhoods; and, for some African Americans, a lingering mistrust of the medical community.
EXTRA: In a terrific blog entry, Rural Doctoring talks about a hair on the back of her neck.
Posted by Staff at 08:30 AM
Category: African-American Health; Health Disparities; Health Inequities; Women's Health