Farm labor, reproductive justice: Migrant women farmworkers in the US

Little is known about the reproductive health of women migrant farmworkers in the US. The health and rights of these workers are advanced by fundamental human rights principles that are sometimes conceptually and operationally siloed into three approaches: reproductive health, reproductive rights, and reproductive justice. I focus on the latter framework, as it lends critical attention to the structural oppression central to poor reproductive health, as well as to the agency of communities organizing and leading efforts to improve their health. I review what is known about these women\u27s reproductive health; identify three realms of reproduction oppression affecting their reproductive health: labor/occupational conditions, health care, and social relations involving race, immigration and fertility; and then highlight some current efforts at women farmworker-directed change. Finally, I make several analytical observations that suggest the importance of the reproductive justice framework to broader discussions of migrant worker justice and its role in realizing their right to health

The Art of Medicine: From small beginnings: to build an anti-eugenic future

Short overview of the From Small Beginnings Project and its relevance for resisting eugenics in contemporary society

Recognizing Racism in Bioethics as the Subject of Bioethical Concern

Attending to racism and US bioethics raises the question of whether and how racism in bioethics has been the subject of bioethical scrutiny. Bioethics has certainly brought its analytical tools to bear on racist aspects of clinical care and biomedical research. But has bioethics studied racism in bioethics as its subject? A close examination of relevant reports, articles, and books in the US bioethics literature published in the early days of the field, pre-2000, shows mixed findings. In the 1970s, racism as a bioethical concern was variously nonexistent, vaguely implied, and powerfully examined and condemned. In the late 1980s/early to mid-1990s, racism was more frequently described and critiqued, often in the context of discussions about African American perspectives of biomedical ethics and inequities in health care. Understanding how racism in bioethics has been addressed as an ethical concern has consequences for the historical narratives told about the field, for antiracist bioethics work today, and for envisioning an antiracist future for bioethics.L’étude du racisme et de la bioéthique américaine soulève la question de savoir si et comment le racisme a fait l’objet d’un examen bioéthique. Il est certain que la bioéthique a utilisé ses outils d’analyse pour étudier les aspects racistes des soins cliniques et de la recherche biomédicale. Mais la bioéthique a-t-elle étudié le racisme dans la bioéthique en tant que sujet? Un examen attentif des rapports, articles et livres pertinents de la littérature de bioéthique américaine publiés aux débuts de ce domaine, avant 2000, révèle des résultats mitigés. Dans les années 1970, le racisme en tant que préoccupation bioéthique était inexistant, vaguement sous-entendu, puis examiné et condamné avec force. À la fin des années 1980 et au début des années 1990, le racisme était plus fréquemment décrit et critiqué, souvent dans le contexte de discussions sur les perspectives afro-américaines de l’éthique biomédicale et des inégalités dans les soins de santé. Comprendre comment le racisme en bioéthique a été abordé comme une préoccupation éthique a des conséquences sur les récits historiques racontés sur le domaine, sur le travail de bioéthique antiraciste d’aujourd’hui et sur la vision d’un avenir bioéthique antiraciste

Racism, Health Equity, and Crisis Standards of Care in the COVID-19 Pandemic

Long-standing and deeply embedded institutional racism, notably anti-Black racism in U.S. health care, has provided a solid footing for the health inequities by race evident in the COVID-19 pandemic. Inequities in susceptibility, exposure, infection, hospitalization, and treatment reflect and reinforce this racism and cause incalculable and preventable suffering in and loss of Black lives. This Article identifies multiple expressions of racism evident in the crisis standards of care (CSC) created by states and health care institutions to guide the ethical allocation of scarce critical care resources including ventilators. Contextualized within the broad landscape of health inequities pre-COVID-19 as well as during the pandemic, this Article analyzes two manifestations of racism in CSC: 1) the scarce participation of Black health care and public health professionals as well as Black communities in CSC creation, and 2) the ostensible “objectivity” and “race irrelevancy” of features of CSC. This ethical analysis leads to a proposal for dismantling racism in CSC by embracing antiracism as health equity at the outset of CSC policy-making. An initial exploration of the nature of health equity and related policies and practices in this COVID-19 era support a concluding outline of distinctive “first steps” toward antiracist pro-health equity CSC

Racism, Health Equity, and Crisis Standards of Care in the COVID-19 Pandemic

Long-standing and deeply embedded institutional racism, notably anti-Black racism in U.S. health care, has provided a solid footing for the health inequities by race evident in the COVID-19 pandemic. Inequities in susceptibility, exposure, infection, hospitalization, and treatment reflect and reinforce this racism and cause incalculable and preventable suffering in and loss of Black lives. This Article identifies multiple expressions of racism evident in the crisis standards of care (CSC) created by states and health care institutions to guide the ethical allocation of scarce critical care resources including ventilators. Contextualized within the broad landscape of health inequities pre-COVID-19 as well as during the pandemic, this Article analyzes two manifestations of racism in CSC: 1) the scarce participation of Black health care and public health professionals as well as Black communities in CSC creation, and 2) the ostensible “objectivity” and “race irrelevancy” of features of CSC. This ethical analysis leads to a proposal for dismantling racism in CSC by embracing antiracism as health equity at the outset of CSC policy-making. An initial exploration of the nature of health equity and related policies and practices in this COVID-19 era support a concluding outline of distinctive “first steps” toward antiracist pro-health equity CSC