Bodily Autonomy

To continue the conversation from our September article on medical apartheid, it’s clear that the story doesn’t end with history. The legacies of exploitation and neglect we traced are still alive today, shaping the way Black women experience healthcare in America.

The Combahee River Collective is a black, lesbian, feminist organization that was founded in 1974 in Boston, Massachusetts. Barbara Smith, one of the founders, named it after the raid led  by Harriet Tubman on the Combahee River on June 2nd, 1863. The other two founders were her sister, Beverly Smith, and Demita Frazier. The CRC, which operated from 1974 -1980, was a group formed after breaking off from the National Black Feminists Organization.

In his role as Secretary of Defense , Pete Hegseth is using his considerable platform to advance an extremist Christian nationalist agenda that threatens fundamental rights for both women and LGBTQ+ Americans.

For many Black women, seeking medical care means navigating a system where racial bias and unequal treatment persist—disparities that continue to undermine their health, safety, and trust in the very institutions meant to heal them. Medical apartheid, a term coined by Harriett A. Washington, refers to the systemic and historical mistreatment of Black Americans within the U.S. healthcare system, particularly through unethical medical experimentation, exclusion, and exploitatio

In a chilling new trend, tragic medical outcomes like stillbirths and miscarriages are increasingly becoming criminal cases, with devastating consequences for patients. This is fueled by more than just new laws; it’s powered by a troubling mix of legal loopholes and digital surveillance. We’re seeing prosecutors use personal data—from Google searches to period-tracking app logs—as evidence, often purchased directly from data brokers without a warrant.

Millions of women in the United States face pregnancy without access to even the most basic maternal health services. Maternity care deserts are defined as counties with no hospitals offering obstetric services, no birth centers, and no practicing obstetricians, gynecologists, or certified nurse midwives. Impacted areas have grown into a silent public health emergency in the United States.

This week, the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee quietly changed its rules to exclude transgender women from competing in women’s events. The decision cites "safety" and "fairness," but the reality is far more insidious. It’s an endorsement of the same paternalistic myth we’ve fought for decades: that women are fragile things in need of guarding, rather than full participants deserving of autonomy.