If You Are Not at the Table, You Are on the Menu — SisterSong: Women of Color Mobilize for Reproductive Justice

By Nekose Wills

“If you are not at the table, you are on the menu.” When I first heard that phrase, I had to stop and contemplate the full meaning behind those words. If you are not at the table, you are on the menu. This is the difference between actually being heard and just barely being seen; between knowing you will be listened to and waiting to be silenced. From November 6-9, 2009, the desire to be at the table, instead of on the menu, brought 400 women (and a few men) of color together for the SisterSong National Membership Meeting in Washington, DC.

The SisterSong Women of Color Reproductive Health Collective began in 1997 to educate women of color and policymakers on reproductive and sexual health and rights and to work for greater access to culturally and linguistically appropriate health services, information, and resources. SisterSong is a network of local, regional, and national grassroots agencies and individuals representing women of color. One of its main goals is to keep women’s right to have a child, to not have a child, and to parent a child at the forefront of the reproductive health movement. The National Women’s Health Network is a proud affiliate of the Collective.

SisterSong’s beauty is that it is comprised of the brightest, most dedicated women imaginable, truly a collective working to build a sense of community and empowerment over our reproductive health and well-being. As I flipped through the conference agenda and listened to the speakers on the opening plenary, the commitment and enthusiasm these women embodied was both inspiring and rejuvenating. The SisterSong conference was an excellent venue, our venue, where we could make our voices heard and have our issues addressed.

Plenary Power

Having a conference in Washington, DC without including politics would be unheard of, and the conference’s underlying theme of women of color’s presence at the table was very appropriate. After many years of standing outside the gates, loudly voicing our views, women of color are finally being invited inside and, not only that, asked to speak, as well. Women who have spent years advocating for policy changes expressed an undeniable sense of joy about their newfound inclusion in the political process. Some of President Obama’s top advisors are women of color who share our sense of commitment to the work that needs to be done. Politics as usual is different when you feel that you have an ally in the White House.

During the Obama Administration’s first year in office, there have been many important policy changes that directly improved the lives of all women. From the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act (which removed the arbitrary time limit imposed on fighting pay discrimination), to restoring laws that allowed pharmaceutical companies to offer discounted birth control through college health centers, women have started to win the battles that affect our daily lives. Make no mistake, there are many obstacles still in the way and many milestones yet to be reached, but this conference was a place to recognize our accomplishments and to strategize solutions to remaining problems.

Taking it to the Hill

As we geared up for a Saturday full of enlightening workshops, word spread that the House of Representatives would be voting on its version of health care reform, the Affordable Health Care for America Act (H.R. 3962), that evening, and that an egregious anti-choice amendment had been attached to the bill by Rep. Stupak (D-MI). Conference attendees were initially ready to hold an impromptu march opposing this amendment but, while many of us wanted to take it to the street, we chose instead to take our concerns to Capitol Hill and personally visit our representatives.

Within a few hours, we were briefed on the scope and impact of the Stupak Amendment and learned that it would prohibit any public or private plan in the proposed insurance exchange from covering abortion if even a single policy-holder who receives Federal health care tax credits were included in that plan. The only way a woman could get abortion coverage would be to separately purchase an “abortion rider” before her plan took effect. We also learned that there might be an anti-immigrant measure requiring legal immigrants to wait five years to get publicly funded health insurance. Talking points were drafted, cell phone numbers were exchanged, contact information for various representatives was distributed and, finally, we went up to the Hill in delegations organized by State.

I visited Representative C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger, a Democrat from my home state of Maryland, who pledged to vote against the Stupak Amendment and the potential anti-immigrant measure. He was, however, a clear supporter of the Hyde Amendment, which has, since 1976, barred the use of Federal money for abortion services and is one of women of color’s biggest barriers to reproductive health care. Despite our best efforts — including making 25 Hill visits to members in all three of the House of Representative’s office buildings — the anti-women amendments passed that night. I would be lying if I said that visiting my Congressperson deepened my faith in our legislative system and the ability of our elected officials to do what’s best for women. But, remembering the stories of family, friends, and women who continue to be inadequately served by our health system kept me grounded and reminded me that I did not have the time to be discouraged.

Stories from the Frontlines

The stories of women’s lives recounted at the conference resonated with everyone in attendance and highlighted the need for policymakers to take the needs of women of color seriously. One panelist’s mother died of ovarian cancer. Her mom had been a social worker for many years and was covered by an HMO insurance plan. After going to the doctor for her abdominal pains, the mother was diagnosed with Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS). Knowing that IBS was not the source of her pain, she requested a second opinion but, as is common with HMOs, her request was denied. After months fighting the HMO, she eventually saw another doctor but, by that time, had stage four ovarian cancer. She was given five years to live, but survived for eleven, spending much of the rest of her life worrying about losing her health coverage. I also heard the stories of a nail salon worker who endured two miscarriages and the birth of a child with many health complications, caused by her daily exposure to the salon’s highly toxic chemicals; and that of a 16-year-old girl whose neighborhood has no local grocery store but 53 different liquor stores instead. She can no longer run track because of her asthma, which was caused by the toxins released by a metal-producing plant in her neighborhood.

Many such stories emerged during the conference, touching upon the connections between health care, the environment, and reproductive justice. The closing plenary speakers noted that the intersection of these issues will be the most important fight taken on by the next generation.

Knowledge Sharing

SisterSong truly was a wealth of information. Here are some of the highlights that illustrate a few victories, but show how much work has yet to be done to create a just and equitable society:

• Only 10 states currently prohibit gender rating by insurance companies: Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Montana, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Dakota, Oregon and Washington. Two states, New Mexico and Vermont, limit the practice.¹
• 52% of women report that they delay needed medical treatment because of cost.²
• Even domestic violence can be considered a “pre-existing condition”. In Arkansas, Idaho, Mississippi, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Wyoming, and the District of Columbia, insurance companies are allowed to deny domestic violence survivors health insurance coverage.¹
• People of color are more likely to work for small businesses, which are the least likely to offer their employees insurance benefits. Similarly, women are more likely to be employed part-time, and part-time jobs rarely offer health benefits.
• One in three American women will have an abortion by the time she is 45.³
• According to a panelist from the National Women’s Law Center, there are 183 pro-choice members of the House of Representatives, 202 anti-choice representatives, and 45 with a mixed record on choice.
• The Southern states are home to half of all U.S. HIV/AIDS cases, as well as the highest rates of illiteracy, infant mortality, and maternal mortality and morbidity; the lowest rates of high school graduation; the least affordable housing; and the lowest levels of state Medicaid funding.⁴
• On November 5, 2009, President Obama convened the first-ever meeting of Native/Indigenous leaders, inviting all 564 recognized tribes in the US and Canada to participate in Tribal Nations Conference & Interactive Discussion with Tribal Leaders.⁵ One week later, the Native American Embassy opened in the nation’s capital.

Armed with the new alliances we made, participants left the SisterSong conference even more prepared to address the challenges we still face and to build a brighter future for women of color everywhere. I spent an amazing weekend with a group of women whom I will definitely see again at the next Sister Song conference. Please join us in the summer of 2011, when we’ll be talking about sex under our new name, the SisterSong Women of Color Reproductive Justice Collective. More information is available at www.sistersong.net.

Nekose Wills is the NWHN Health Information Coordinator

References:

1. National Women’s Law Center (NWLC), Nowhere to Turn: How the Individual Health Insurance Market Fails Women, Washington, DC. NWLC, September 2008. Available online at: http://nwlc.org/reformmatters/NWLCReport-NowhereToTurn-WEB.pdf

2. The Commonwealth Fund, Women at Risk: Why Many Women Are Forgoing Needed Health Care, New York, NY: Commonwealth Fund, May 2009. Available online at:? http://www.commonwealthfund.org/Content/Publications/Issue-Briefs/2009/May/Women-at-Risk.aspx

3. Guttmacher Institute, In the Know: Questions About Pregnancy, Contraception and Abortion, New York, NY: Guttmacher Institute, no date. Available online at: http://www.guttmacher.org/in-the-know/incidence.html

4. Center for Disease Control, HIV/AIDS Surveillance Report: Cases of HIV Infection and AIDS in the United States and Dependent Areas, 2007, Atlanta, GA, CDC February 18, 2009.  Available online at http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/topics/surveillance/basic.htm#area

5. Merina V, “Obama: Tribal Nations Conference Just a Start”, Reznet Reporting from Native America, November 5, 2009, Available online at: http://www.reznetnews.org/article/obama-tribal-nations-conference-just-start-40910