Every Woman Should Have 'Right To Survive' Pregnancy, Letter To Editor Says

Main Category: Pregnancy / Obstetrics
Also Included In: Women's Health / Gynecology
Article Date: 19 Jun 2008 - 11:00 PST

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There is "no reason" that the U.S. should not be a "leader" in making the "right to survive" pregnancy a "reality," Center for Reproductive Rights President Nancy Northup writes in a New York Times letter to the editor. Northup wrote the letter in response to a recent opinion piece from Times columnist Nicholas Kristof on the "depth of racism and the breadth of sexism in the U.S."

According to Northup, nonwhite women in the U.S. face both racism and sexism and "suffer real consequences as a result: African American women are four times more likely than white women to die in childbirth." In addition, the U.S. ranks first among developed countries in the number of women who die from pregnancy-related complications, Northup writes. To fight maternal mortality, reproductive health services "from contraception to maternal health care" need to be financed, Northup writes, concluding, "What better way to address the intersection of racism and sexism and 'to repair America's standing in the world' than to save women from dying during pregnancy, whether they live in an African village or Greenwich Village?" (Northup, New York Times, 6/18).

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