Health Equity, Environmental Stewardship, and Real Accountability

As we wrap up this month, has April left you feeling exhausted, rejuvenated or a little bit of both? April has been full of observances reminding us of the importance of various public health factors essential for?safer and more secure communities including: ?

• Sexual Assault Awareness Month ?
• National Child Abuse Prevention Month ?
• SAAM Day of Action: Tuesday, April 2, 2024?
• National Public Health Week : April 1-7, 2024?
• Black maternal health week : April 11-17, 2024?
• International Anti-Street Harassment Week :?April 14-20, 2024?
• National Crime Victims' Rights Week : April 21-27, 2024?
• National Youth Violence Prevention Week : April 22-26, 2024? ?

Whether discussing street and transit harassment , youth violence prevention or?Black maternal health , addressing the most vulnerable, underserved and marginalized among these enables us to better serve the broader impacted community. Sadly, more lawmakers are proposing bills that would ban DEI in schools, and doctors say it could roll back progress toward improving Black maternal health.

?One demographic often left out from such conversations is the incarcerated population; a recent Senate Democratic Policy Committee hearing held at the PA State?Capitol , on April 2, highlighted the need for comprehensive reporting of Deaths in custody, and/or attributable to a carceral state across the Commonwealth of?PA. ?

Moreover, considering public health and Black maternal health, a neighboring state is taking steps to better advocate for incarcerated moms. The United States' prison population includes over 100,000 women (about the seating capacity of the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum) -with 75,000 of them being of childbearing age. Senators Cory Booker (D-NJ), Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), and Mazie Hirono (D-HI) reintroduced the?Justice for Incarcerated Moms Act ; legislation that seeks to improve care for pregnant and postpartum incarcerated individuals.?

The Justice for Incarcerated Moms Act will:

• Use financial incentives for all state and local prisons and jails to end the practice of shackling pregnant people.
• Provide funding for federal, state, and local prisons and jails to establish programs for pregnant and postpartum women in their facilities, including access to support for doulas and other perinatal health workers, counseling, reentry assistance, maternal-infant bonding opportunities, and diversionary programs to prevent incarceration for pregnant and postpartum people.
• Commission a comprehensive study on maternal mortality and severe maternal morbidity among incarcerated people, with a particular focus on racial and ethnic disparities in maternal health outcomes.?

“The alarming reality is that incarcerated mothers face elevated risks of maternal morbidity and mortality, and this disparity disproportionately affects Black women, who are imprisoned at twice the rate of white women.?" - Sen. Cory booker ?

Earlier this month I had the honor of serving in an environmental Justice panel at the Pennsylvania Health Equity Summit; which reassured me of the interconnectedness of these topics of concern. Even as we recently observed Earth day across the globe, the impacts of environmental injustice locally and globally is becoming increasingly self-evident as we see the images of extreme weather patterns including tornadoes in Oklahoma, extreme heat in Philippines, and unyielding floods across China, Dubai and even Kenya in recent days.?

These issues can leave one feeling helpless, but there are practical steps towards positive action. We must stay updated on pertinent legislature/bills that can shift the needle of progress forward, we can call our representatives and demand for accountability in their representation of the broader community, and equally important, VOTE WITH YOUR DOLLARS; spend and/or boycott consciously. ?

?As always, the question remains, how are you moving beyond performative diversity to real equitable inclusion in YOUR respective spheres of influence?!?