Louisiana’s New State Law Spells Trouble for POC Who Want Abortions
Rulings across the Deep South cut off access for many low-income, marginalized people and put them at risk
On March 4, the Supreme Court will hear June Medical Services v. Gee, a case that challenges a Louisiana law requiring that abortion providers maintain admitting privileges at hospitals within 30 miles of the clinics they serve. If the court upholds the law, the three remaining abortion clinics in Louisiana are at risk of closure. The court’s decision in June Medical could deal a major blow to abortion access. Laws that lead to the closures of clinics don’t affect all people equally. They disproportionately affect low-income people, especially poor people of color.
Black, Native American, and Latinx women are more than twice as likely to live below the poverty line as White women, which means it’s that much harder for them to access health care services and medications such as birth control. What’s more, racist reproductive control has deep historical roots. “This country was founded on controlling the reproductivity of Black women,” says Agbo Ikor, director of programs at Spark Reproductive Justice Now. “Throughout time, there have been reproductive barriers in place that have contributed to a system of oppression.”
