There are about 100,000 women in Georgia who will face an unexpected pregnancy this coming year.
That’s 100,000 women who will need our help — and who might or might not be able to receive it. Georgia’s legislation to protect the unborn is among the strongest in the nation, but its maternal and postnatal outcomes are among the worst.
With maternal mortality rates among the highest in the nation, we are also home to a large number of Black mothers who statistically suffer disproportionately during pregnancy, delivery and early motherhood. In spite of such strong legislation, any life-affirming discourse that does not also address contributing factors such as social determinants and compound trauma is incomplete. Improving care for our mothers and infants should be something everyone, from every political stripe, can get behind. In fact, many from quite varied backgrounds already have.
Consider Angela Stanton-King, founder of Auntie Angie’s House and adviser to Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. She gave birth to a child while handcuffed to a delivery bed. Since then, she has made it her mission to support and uplift local mothers who feel abortion is their only option.
Georgia Republican Rep. Mesha Mainor, a lifelong Democrat until quite recently, sponsored legislation that would have created the Georgia Commission on Maternal and Infant Health and founded the Fulton County-based Maternal & Infant Health Task Force. When it comes to infant health and maternal health care, Georgia should be leading. There is still tremendous opportunity for pro-life leaders in Georgia to demonstrate both the power of and need for holistic, wraparound care for vulnerable women through pregnancy and the first year of motherhood.
More than one-third of Georgia’s counties are classified as “maternal care deserts.” These are areas without hospitals or birthing centers that offer obstetric care. There are proven solutions to these sorts of challenges. Telehealth, for instance, is proven to help women who are vulnerable, underserved or at high risk of medical complications in a maternal care desert or low-access area.
Credit: Benjamin Watson/contributed
Credit: Benjamin Watson/contributed
Another aspect of the medical desert designation is the number of women of childbearing age who are uninsured. So push to expand Medicare access. Expand access to midwifery services and doulas. Politicians can and must make it possible for Georgia women to choose life knowing that they will be safe and cared for every step of the way.
We must all do everything we can to expand economic opportunity, educational opportunities, health care and maternal health care throughout the South and right here in Georgia.
We need to prepare to welcome those 100,000 new mothers and children into the next phase of life. We need to provide the medical care and social resources they need to choose life, to stay healthy, to be safe and to build a life of security, happiness and love for their new child. Taking care of our babies and mothers isn’t partisan, but it is political: a wise, just and moderate Georgia must be organized and mobilized for their protection and empowerment. Our future as a state and as a nation depends upon their success. Silence is no longer an option.
Benjamin Watson is a former Super Bowl champion with the New England Patriots and author of “The New Fight for Life: Roe, Race, and a Pro-Life Commitment to Justice.”
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