October 24, 2008 posted by Linda Basch
As the election draws near, I’m pleased to announce a series of posts this week from our experts responding to current hot topics in health.
We’ve asked these experts for their thoughts on how health care policies affect men and women differently. We’ve asked them to identify key priorities for improving women's health. And we’ve also asked them to identify the changes related to health they would most like to see implemented by a new administration.
As many in our network are well aware, women and men are often differently at risk for a variety of diseases and conditions. Racial disparities in the delivery of care abound.
An estimated 29% of Latinas and more than 20% of African American women report being in fair or poor health, compared with 13% of white women. And issues of reproductive justice continue to shape our policy debates. As an AP article noted last week, “Two years after South Dakotans rejected a nearly total ban on abortion, voters on November 4th will decide another sweeping but less restrictive ballot measure that would probably send a legal challenge of Roe v. Wade to the U.S. Supreme Court.”
While there may be only two more weeks until the election, the wide array of women’s health issues will not so soon be resolved. We have much at stake, and much work to do. I hope you will join me in sharing the posts from our experts, once they are live, with those who can use this information most.
Links:
Latinas’ “Cafecito” with the Presidential Candidates [2] by Silvia Henriquez
Health Care Tops the List of Women’s Concerns for Families [3] by Amy Allina
“Real Change, Not Reform!” [4] by Ruth E. Zambrana