the Voice of
The Communist League of Revolutionary Workers–Internationalist
“The emancipation of the working class will only be achieved by the working class itself.”
— Karl Marx
the Voice of
The Communist League of Revolutionary Workers–Internationalist
“The emancipation of the working class will only be achieved by the working class itself.”
— Karl Marx
Jul 22, 2024
Eighty to ninety women in Michigan die each year during pregnancy or within 42 days after pregnancy ends, and that number is on the rise, increasing 33.6% from 2019 to 2020.
This is hardly a problem limited to Michigan. 4,300 women died during pregnancy in the United States between 2018 and 2022. The U.S. had a worse maternal mortality rate in 2020 than 64 other countries, despite being one of the world’s wealthiest.
Maternal mortality is often associated with poverty and worse medical care as a result. Medicaid pays for the medical care in 40% of births in the U.S. and federal law only requires states to provide Medicaid-funded care to women for 60 days after giving birth. Some states have extended that period of funding to 12 months, but others have not.
Maternal mortality also results from racial discrimination and mistreatment of women during pregnancy by the medical system. The Centers for Disease Control reported last August that one in five women are mistreated while receiving maternity care. One in three black women report mistreatment. Discrimination has concrete negative consequences.
For all the constant claptrap we hear about the right-to-life from anti-abortion forces, somehow, we never seem to hear much talk about the right-to-life of mothers!
While women are expected to birth and raise future generations, that role is not valued at a level that ensures a real financial support for their health nor for their newborns.