Aryanna Cheeseboro

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.

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 exploitation (2007).

In the United States, there is an ongoing fight between state laws and federal rules when it comes to transgender health care. More than 20 states have passed laws that ban or limit gender-affirming care for transgender youth, meaning young people in those states do not have access to treatments, such as puberty blockers or hormone therapy, even when recommended by their doctor. SCOTUS upheld that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act 1964, protects against discrimination based on gender identity.