Unprepared: Reflections of a Labor and Delivery Nurse
As a labor and delivery nurse, I have seen first-hand the devastating effects of untreated substance use disorders (SUD) and mental illnesses in pregnancy and postpartum—as one of the many ways our healthcare system fails to support and care for these moms and babies.
On This ADA Anniversary, We’re Thinking About Reproductive Health and Disability Justice
This week marks 31 years of the Americans with Disability Act (ADA), a landmark civil rights law that prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability. However, despite the promise of this law and the progress made in the last two decades, ableism continues to permeate society, resulting in socioeconomic, health, and other inequities.
D.C. Workers Deserve Stronger Paid Leave
Black and brown people in D.C. have seen some of the worst racial disparities in COVID-19 deaths and vaccinations in the country. At the same time, the national economic fallout of the pandemic hit communities of color the hardest: people of color, particularly women, disproportionately worked in industries hit by pandemic-related closures, layoffs and reduced hours. And that is on top of the longstanding health and economic racial disparities that already existed before the pandemic.
Discontinuity in How We Value Immigrant Labor
National Immigrant Heritage Month is an opportunity to recognize the exceptional historic contributions immigrants have made in this country, or perhaps for some, even grapple with anti-immigrant attitudes and rhetoric that continue to marginalize and scapegoat those communities.
Rachel Reads: Ooh! She Got Money!
Black women face a unique struggle at the intersection of race and gender as it pertains to advancing their professional careers. They are systematically held at specific positions or levels in the workplace, and not always given opportunities to advance. My story is similar.
An Impossible Task? Balancing Your (Social) Media Consumption in the Interest of Improved Mental Health
As we wrap up Mental Health Awareness Month, it’s time to reevaluate how we engage with media in all its forms.
Moms Deserve Much More than Breakfast in Bed on Mother’s Day
Sunday marks our second pandemic Mother’s Day, and more than a year of financial, health, and familial chaos for mothers across the country.
The Biden Administration’s First 100 Days and Their Impact on Women
In many ways, Biden has women — and especially women of color — to thank for his victory in the 2020 election. And by selecting the first woman and person of color to serve as Vice President and nominating a record number of women, including nine women of color, to his cabinet, the Biden Administration has signaled a willingness to prioritize women and the issues that impact us.
“Good, better, best. Never let it rest. Till your good is better and your better is best.”
Madam Speaker. Madam Vice President. Next up: Madam President!
Choosing Health Equity: How COVID-19 Exposed America’s Health Inequities – and What We Can Do Now To Make Changes
A conversation with Earl Shellner, Patient Advocate and Advisory Council member
Why the EACH Act Matters for Medicaid Beneficiaries
We need to strengthen Medicaid. With a new administration and Congress moving on key legislative priorities, now is the time. Strengthening Medicaid means increasing access to abortion and reproductive care. Abortion access is often an afterthought among the health advocacy community, but without abortion access, Medicaid coverage cannot ensure the overall well-being of people that may become pregnant.
Anti-Asian Sentiment in America Is Not New
When I briefly heard a report on television about the shootings that took place last week at three spa locations in Atlanta with no detail about who the victims were, I was first angry about the persistent gun violence plaguing this country.
