Health as a Human Rights

Episode 8

I’m so glad to bring on four amazing guests who have dedicated their wisdom and time to researching and understanding health disparities and ways to increase equity in care, research, and overall access.  

Today the topic we are tapping into an important conversation on health as a human right. It only feels right to acknowledge that on Friday, June 24th - the Supreme Court ruling on Dobbs v Jackson overturned the right to abortion that was in place since Roe v Wade was decided. Many of us have been dealing with the impact of this monumental change. Reproductive justice advocates and people all over the world are watching this regression of rights and looking for some answers. In a statement posted last week by the Black Women’s Health Imperative, they wrote: “....as Black women and gender expansive people, we are under attack at every turn, with neither the courts or Congress coming to our aid. Our voting rights have been eviscerated. Our right to raise our families without fear is nonexistent. Now our hard-fought right to bodily autonomy has been stripped from us. 

We shoulder all the burdens of citizenship without the most basic benefits.” We will discuss some of the issues that need to be highlighted as we enter into this new era, with already staggering disparities and inequality in our health care system for communities of color and in particular black and brown bodies. To unpack some of these realities, we have Dr Jeannette Wade, Dr Nasra Abubakar, Dr Sharon Parker, and Dr Helyne Frederick.