Dr. Kamilah Evans, Black Doctors, Doulas, and Advocates Mark Black History Month by Spotlighting How Abortion Bans Harm Black Women, Patients, & Families
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WASHINGTON, DC –– Today, Dr. Kamilah Evans, MD hosted a roundtable with Black doctors, doulas, and advocates to commemorate Black History Month and spotlight how abortion bans harm Black families and exacerbate the Black maternal health crisis. Abortion bans block access to timely, comprehensive, and inclusive medical care during pregnancy, childbirth, and postpartum — deepening an already deadly maternal health crisis and existing disparities for Black women and patients.
“Although this work is extremely hard, I cannot walk away, because it's needed, and I'm just one of those people. I care about justice and doing it in a way that makes people feel comfortable through some of the most vulnerable points of people's lives,” said Dr. Kamilah Evans, a full time OBGYN Generalist physician, content creator and dedicated mentor through her social media platform, @MedMilah.
During the roundtable, storytellers discussed how abortion bans have impacted their families, their work, and their advocacy for reproductive freedom amid anti-abortion attacks on care at the local and federal level.
“If Candi had access to a healthy, viable, and reliable resource, she would have taken that. She was afraid to go to the doctor because she already had a history of hospitals, and they weren't favorable. If she had gone to the hospital, there was still no guarantee that she would have gotten the services she needed,” said Turiya Tomlin-Randall, whose sister Candi Miller lost her life in Georgia because of the state’s abortion ban during a high-risk pregnancy. “Politicians are playing politics and mental gymnastics with people's right to vote and what people actually want. How do politicians create these laws when we know that even conservative people want to maintain access to abortion care? It's just ridiculous what's going on in the United States and that's why it's important for us to continue to speak and be a voice.”
“If you get a positive pregnancy test, abortion doulas are trained to help you go through things like how you're feeling with the positive test or the negative test, and whatever you're feeling at the moment to process the news of your pregnancy. They then help you make the best decision for yourself and give you the resources to get the care that you need,” said Nandi Jacobs, an abortion, birth, and postpartum doula based in Atlanta, Georgia. “When you're able to feel like you're in control of your body and know what's happening, you can make better decisions and the best decision for you and your family.”
“Right now, we have a situation where we have maternity care deserts in states with abortion bans, especially in rural communities. When abortion is criminalized OBGYNs flee and right now there is a mass exodus of providers in rural communities and marginalized areas. Clinics are closing, and we know that when clinics close, the community loses its primary source of care like screenings and contraception,” said Dr. DeShawn Taylor, an award-winning gynecologist and family planning specialist who owns the Desert Star Institute for Family Planning in Phoenix, Arizona. “At the federal level, anti-abortion attacks exacerbate the maternal health crises and we know that communities that are already marginalized, and have a difficult time accessing care, are going to bear the brunt of the consequences.”
“How did we get here? We got here because politics is playing a role in healthcare, and that does not work. It doesn't work,” said Shanette Williams, whose daughter Amber Nicole Thurman lost her life in Georgia after being denied medical care. “Absolute strangers are telling doctors ‘you cannot treat this patient because if you do, this is what's gonna happen.’ So the doctor-patient relationship is broken. The system is broken. And this is why we're here today.”
Abortion bans have deadly consequences for people across the country and we know that to be especially true for Black women and Black families. As the Trump administration and anti-abortion extremists work to ban abortion nationwide, we must be clear about the harms our communities face as a result of abortion bans.
If you are interested in speaking with any of the participants in the press event, please contact malachi@freeandjust.us. You can watch the virtual press event here.
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Free & Just is fighting to stop attacks on reproductive freedom and rights. We’re working with people across the country to share real stories to show the devastating consequences of attacks on our reproductive freedom. We all deserve the right to control our bodies and lives. That’s why we’re sharing our stories, raising our voices, and fighting for our future.