Northwell Health's Staten Island University Hospital internal policy ("Managing Maternal Refusal") gives doctors the authority to take control of pregnant patients and force them to have medical procedures without their consent. This policy violates medical ethics and New York's Patient Bill of Rights.
In an 8-part series, the New York Times Editorial Board squarely addresses the core issues, intersectional frameworks, and cases NAPW has been working on for more than 17 years. It recognizes NAPW's leadership in defending the rights of pregnant women.
Dear Friends and Allies,
Why support National Advocates for Pregnant Women? Because none of us would be here without them.
The fact is none of us would be here without someone who became pregnant and gave birth. Yet the health care pregnant people need to survive and to thrive (and what the survival of the species requires) is categorized separately as reproductive health - as if it is something that only a small "special interest" subgroup of humans need.
Some New Yorkers think that attacks on reproductive rights and health are confined to far-away places such as Alabama and Tennessee. But right here in New York City, a hospital is arguing and courts are so far accepting the idea that there is a point in pregnancy when patients lose their rights to bodily integrity and medical decision-making.
Some New Yorkers think that attacks on reproductive rights and health are confined to far-away places such as Alabama and Tennessee. But right here in New York City, a hospital is arguing and courts are so far accepting the idea that there is a point in pregnancy when patients lose their rights to bodily integrity and medical decision-making.
Panel discussion about the rights of pregnant employees and patients.
Join legal and reproductive health experts to learn about the employment rights of pregnant folks and their decision-making rights regarding their health care and birth plan.
Panelists include:
Chanel Porchia-Albert, CD, CPD, CLC, CHHC, Founder and Executive Director of Ancient Song Doula Services
Allegra Fishel, JD, Founder and Executive Director, Gender Equality Law Center
Indra Lusero, JD, Staff Attorney at National Advocates for Pregnant Women
Co-sponsored by the NYU Law Reproductive Justice Clinic
Bios
Allegra Fishel, JD
Allegra L. Fishel is the Founder and Executive Director of the Gender Equality Law Center.
The United States is facing a maternal health care crisis as the rate of maternal mortality has been rising, and Black and Indigenous people are dying at even higher rates. This is happening in a health care system where 1 in 4 women of color report mistreatment during birth.
The war on drugs involves criminal laws that prohibit possession and distribution of certain substances by certain groups of people. It also responds to a public health issues (drug dependency) through the criminal law system. Laws that prohibit common human activities - such as drinking alcohol, using drugs, and having abortions have all failed to stop those activities.
NAPW Senior Staff Attorney Aarin M. Williams appeared on CNN's "United Shades of America" where she spoke with W. Kamau Bell about intersectionality and reproductive justice and health. She explained, "If you want healthy babies then you have to take care of the woman.
Alicia Beltran, a 28-year-old pregnant woman, sought early prenatal care and confided in health care workers about prior use of painkillers and her efforts to end that use on her own. Instead of commending Ms. Beltran for her progress, her medical practitioners reported her to the Department of Human Services, as a result of which she was arrested on July 18, 2013 by Wisconsin law enforcement officials.
