By: Natiece Ford
In the words of Donald Trump, “I don’t care what she is…”
The September 10, 2024 presidential debate between cur-rent Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump did not focus on the race or gender of either candidate. Rather, women’s rights, the Affordable Care Act, immigration, inflation, and foreign policy were major topics of discussion. Th e question is how do these common issues usually raised during election times affect the Black community, and will history repeat itself? Early in the debate, both candidates were asked about their stance on the Supreme Court case Roe v. Wade and abortion rights. Former President Trump stated that he would make exceptions for cases of incest and rape while repeatedly claiming that the Biden administration would allow abortion in the “7th, 8th, and 9th months,” which was quickly debunked by moderators. When asked again, he never gave a clear yes or no answer to whether he would veto an abortion ban. Vice President Harris promised to sign a bill when passed by Congress to reinstate the protections of Roe v. Wade.
The landmark Supreme Court case that began in Dallas County, Texas, in 1970 and was finally ruled on in 1973 made restrictive state regulation of abortion unconstitutional, although the ruling would be overturned in 2022, bringing women’s rights back to the forefront politically. In a journal article on “The Impact of Hostile Abortion Legislation in the United States” published by the National Library of Medicine in 2023, studies found that Roe v. Wade reduced the maternal mortality rate for women of color by 30% to 40%. In another study mentioned in the same article, if a total abortion ban were to go into effect, maternal deaths would increase by 33%. In other words, Black women die twice as oft en as their white counterparts from pregnancy-related issues countrywide, while states like New York report maternal mortality as high as five times. In an attempt to prevent postpartum maternal deaths, New York passed a law extending pregnancy Medicaid coverage from 60 days to 12 months postpartum, coverage that would be available regardless of immigration status, making issues like women’s rights, the Affordable Care Act, and immigration synonymous.
When asked if he had a plan regarding Obamacare, formally known as the Affordable Care Act, former President Trump stated that Obamacare was “lousy healthcare,” noting that he inherited the system due to Democrats’ unwillingness to vote to change the policy. Trump stated that if he and his people could come up with a plan that was cheaper for the people and the population and better healthcare, he would change it but only has concepts of plans due to not being president. Vice President Harris was clearer on her aspirations for American healthcare. Harris mentioned eliminating private insurance companies’ abilities to deny those with preexisting conditions and maintaining low prescription drug costs for seniors at $2,000 yearly while making that a possibility for all.
The emergence of better healthcare options for the country is critical, especially for African Americans when preexisting conditions like diabetes, asthma, and hypertension affect the Black community at disproportionate rates. More importantly, the issue that bridges the gap between women’s rights, Black maternal mortality, and the Affordable Care Act is systematic racism in healthcare (SRH). Proof of SRH starts as early as 1835 with the experiments of J. Marion Sims, the so-called “father of gynecology.” Sims operated on at least 10 enslaved Black women, three named Lucy, Betsey, and Anarcha, where it is documented that all 10 women were operated on multiple times without anesthesia. Anarcha was operated on 33 times in a span of three years. Th e purpose of the aforementioned operations was to find a cure for vesicovaginal fistula, which once cured, would make the enslaved women with the condition more valuable to their white owners. Less than 100 years aft er Sims, in 1932, Black men were test subjects of the United States Public Health Service and the Tuskegee Institute in the study of “Untreated Syphilis in the Male Negro,” where participants were lied to about treatment while being baited with free medical exams, free meals, and burial insurance.
Due to certain healthcare options being available regardless of immigration status, it is important to note that when asked about policy changes regarding immigration, Vice President Harris directed attention back to her opponent, stating that he would rather “run on a problem instead of fix a problem,” citing that a border security bill was drawn up that would have, if passed, sent 1,500 Border Patrol agents to the border and stopped the flow of fentanyl into the country but was
