November 27th 2023.
The Abundant Birth Project has been providing resources to Black and Pacific Islander women in San Francisco since June 2021. The initiative was created to combat obstetric racism, an alarmingly high rate of African American deaths resulting from childbirth. The project provides a $1,000 monthly stipend for 150 pregnant women to support them throughout their pregnancy and the first six months after birth.
However, the project is now under fire for being deemed unconstitutional in a lawsuit that alleges the program illegally discriminates against other races. Additionally, the suit claims that the program uses public money in an "illegal, wasteful, and injurious" manner. Conservative groups have been making attempts to do away with racial preferences in various institutions since the Supreme Court ruled race-conscious admissions to colleges and universities unconstitutional.
The lawsuit against the Abundant Birth Project was filed by Do No Harm, a nonprofit established in 2022. Their mission is to stop selecting applications based on race. The California for Equal Rights Foundation and American Civil Rights Projects, a firm based in Dallas, have also joined the suit, citing the 14th Amendment of the Constitution, a law that provided rights to formerly enslaved Black people following the Civil War.
Dan Morenoff, the Executive Director of American Civil Rights Project, believes the project should be shut down if it is not made available to all pregnant people. “The city and county of San Francisco crafted the Abundant Birth Project with the express intention of picking beneficiaries based on race,” said Morenoff. “It’s unconstitutional. They can’t legally do it, and we are optimistic that the courts will not allow them to continue to do it.”
However, Khiara Bridges, a Berkeley law professor and anthropologist, believes the Supreme Court ruling in favor of affirmative action may support the program. The verdict claimed that Harvard and the University of North Carolina could not provide evidence of the benefits of using race when selecting college applicants. Bridges is hopeful that research will be able to provide statistical evidence that demonstrates improved health outcomes for families that received financial support from the Abundant Birth Project.
Briana Jones, a recipient of the Abundant Birth Project stipend, said the program allowed her to move into an apartment and have a healthy birth. “It’s known that people of color struggle way harder than other races,” Jones said. “Where I live, it’s nothing but struggle here, people trying to make ends meet.” Jones believes “it’s wrong” for people to attempt to take the program away.
It is important to note that the rate of U.S. maternal mortality rates more than doubled between 1999 and 2019, with Black women having the highest maternal mortality deaths, according to a study published in the medical journal JAMA.
The Abundant Birth Project has been instrumental in combating racial disparities in maternal mortality. It is essential that the program is not taken away from those who need it most. It is important for the court to take into consideration the potential consequences of the lawsuit, such as the effect it may have on efforts to increase scholarships for minority medical students to diversify the healthcare field, and other efforts to address obstetric racism.
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