Health Rewind: Policing African-American Motherhood
War on women's bodies, contraception sabotage, and more.
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Policing African-American Motherhood - The war on women now includes pregnant women, many of them being African-American women, says a new study. According to RH Reality Check, “African-American women in the study were more likely to be reported to the police by health care providers, arrested, and subject to felony charges” for a range of reasons including being drug tested without knowledge, not following doctor’s orders or being jailed to stop one from getting an abortion.(Photo: Getty Images/fStop)
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Smoking Shortens Life Span by 10 Years - A new study in the New England Journal of Medicine found that smoking can shave a decade off your life. Researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also found that quitting smoking before the age of 40 can reduce your risk of death by 90 percent, reported USA Today. This news is especially important to African-Americans, who are more likely to die from lung cancer.(Photo: Chicago Tribune/MCT /Landov)
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Lifting the Black Shadow of Mental Health Care - Mental health issues are not a white folks problem — they affect us, too. But how can we shed light on our plight? A recent Politics 365 article tackles the challenges of addressing the specific needs of Black men and women when addressing anxiety, depression and other mental health issues, especially for LGBT African-Americans.(Photo: GettyImages)
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Have You Been a Victim of Contraceptive Sabotage? - The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) wants women and teens to be screened for “contraceptive sabotage,” which is forcing women to have unprotected sex against their will. It can include male partners poking holes in condoms, removing condoms during sex and threatening women to carry out a pregnancy, reported Health Day News. It’s more common than one would think. (Photo: Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
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Insured Americans Still Facing Serious Financial Woes - Having health insurance doesn’t mean that if you get really sick you will be OK financially, says a new study. Researchers from Health Leads found that out of pocket expenses from suffering from a serious illness cause too many Americans to go into credit card debt, choose medicine over food and skimp on care, reported Health Day News.(Photo: GettyImages)
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Grooming the Next Generation of Black Male Doctors - Less than 3 percent of the nation’s million doctors and medical students are Black. Gateway Medical Society wants to change those numbers and hopes that their hands-on mentorship program called “Journey to Medicine” will encourages Black male teens in Pittsburg to enter this field, reported the New Pittsburg Courier. You can get more on the mentoring program here.(Photo: GettyImages)