Latinas At The Intersections: Immigration, Health Care, And The Supreme Court
Too often, debates around health care and immigration lack a gender perspective. The issues that define the women's rights movement of today are inexorably tied to these two Supreme Court decisions, not because they specifically speak to gender bias, but rather because the outcome of these decisions defines the societal structures that will oppress or empower women. As Latinas are increasingly cut off from health care, educational and economic opportunities, and reproductive rights, we must use a gender lens to reexamine priorities and solutions across movements.
A chorus of policymakers, advocates, and faith leaders around the globe already champion health as a human right, and some nations have even enshrined this right in their constitutions. But in the United States, health is still treated as a luxury not a right. Today, one in three US Latinos is uninsured--more than any other racial or ethnic group. Latinas face substantial additional obstacles in accessing health care, such as employment, income, immigration status, and language barriers. The result is poor health outcomes, including high rates of cervical cancer, HIV/AIDS, and other serious issues.
Latinas across the country are fighting back. Our Latina Advocacy Network (LAN) in the Texas Rio Grande Valley holds juntas comunitarias (community meetings) on a daily basis to discuss the destructive cuts to women's health services in Texas and to bring attention to the promise of the Affordable Care Act in restoring health and dignity for women in Texas. While the Affordable Care Act doesn't solve all of the problems Latinas face, we know that by putting women's health first we'll take a step toward substantial improvement in health care access for all.
...our Latina sisters in nearby Arizona face their own set of challenges, including one of the harshest immigration laws in the nation. The Supreme Court will soon decide whether that law should stand; at issue are provisions that criminalize the mere presence of undocumented immigrants and authorize racial profiling by law enforcement. This law creates a hostile environment where Latinas are targeted by the criminal justice system rather than protected by it. Adding insult to injury, the passage of SB1070 and copycat laws across the country has also been accompanied by a flood of troubling anti-immigrant rhetoric.
How the Supreme Court decides these two landmark cases will deeply influence Latinas' ability to keep themselves, their families, and our communities, healthy. Regardless of the ruling however, NLIRH will continue to work toward a comprehensive movement that will reduce racial and ethnic health inequities, that will ensure reproductive health access for Latinas, and demand that all women, regardless of race, ethnicity, or immigration status, have the opportunity to live healthy lives free from mean-spirited bias and attack.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jessica-gonzalezrojas/latinas-at-the-intersection_b_1546874.html
