Black women and girls would get more power and protections in new NC bills
Black women and girls get a seat at the table at the Fannie Lou Hamer Institute of Advocacy and Social Action in Raleigh. If a proposed bill makes it through the North Carolina General Assembly, they could also have a seat at a much larger table and potential to influence statewide policy.
Twin sisters Jayda and Sierra Coleman are rising seniors at the Wake Young Women’s Leadership Academy and student leaders at the Fannie Lou Hamer Institute, which is named after the late civil rights leader.
The sisters spoke Wednesday during a press conference about legislation being promoted by Sen. Erica Smith of Henrico and Sen. Natalie Murdock of Durham.
“All pieces of legislation that we’re highlighting this morning are intertwined and connected,” Smith said during the press conference. “They especially respond to how in North Carolina and throughout our country, black women have been historically disenfranchised, disempowered and disregarded.”
Senate Bill 775, which would establish the Black Women and Girls Task Force, is one of them.
The task force would “give us the opportunity for black women and girls to be understood,” Jayda Coleman said.
She said the institute provides “a space for black girls to connect,” and that the Black Women and Girls Task Force would “give us the opportunity for black women and girls to be understood.”
The bill would fund the creation of a 13-member task force of four state lawmakers and nine leaders of grassroots advocacy nonprofits that serve black women and girls.
“It would be helpful if we didn’t have to have a bill to say that we can be black women in America,” Sierra Coleman said. “But you know, this is progress.”
Doula bill
Another bill discussed during the press conference would expand Medicaid to include coverage for doulas — professionals who provide support and guidance to mothers and families during pregnancy, labor and delivery and postpartum.
Senate Bill 732 would require that the state’s health benefits division request that doulas be covered under the North Carolina Medicaid State Plan.
Black, American Indian and Alaska Native women are two to three times more likely to die from pregnancy-related causes than white women. And black women with at least a college degree are five times more likely to die than white women with a similar education, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
But studies have shown support personnel, like doulas, can improve birth outcomes, according to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. The organization has also cited a study showing labor support can provide substantial “potential cost savings to Medicaid programs,” as a result of reduced cesarean-section rates.
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists has said that given the benefits, patients, providers and health care organizations “may want to develop programs and policies to integrate trained support personnel ... to provide continuous one-to-one emotional support to women undergoing labor.”
Coverage for doula services would begin in August 2021, according to the latest version of the bill, and would allow for four visits with a doula during pregnancy, as well as seven postpartum.
“We’ll continue to work to make sure we do have that bipartisan support,” Murdock said Wednesday.
Murdock also said the goal is to expand Medicaid access so that there are more funds for things like doula support.
Workplace protections
Smith has proposed another bill this session related to protections. Senate Bill 786, Be Heard in the Workplace, would raise the minimum wage of tipped employees and define protected classes.
Ames Simmons, policy director of Equality NC, the LGBTQ rights advocacy organization, said all three bills Smith talked about also impact the LGBTQ community, including on workplace harassment and access to Medicaid.
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This story was originally published May 27, 2020 at 4:50 PM with the headline "Black women and girls would get more power and protections in new NC bills."
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