Michigan advocates call for improved health outcomes for marginalized groups
LANSING, Mich. (CBS DETROIT) - Advocates gathered in Lansing on Tuesday to continue pushing for reproductive care in Michigan.
Advocates told CBS News Detroit that today the fight is less about availability and more about expanding access.
"The work is education, outreach, talking to the community about access to reproductive care," said Shanay Watson-Whittaker, who serves as director of strategic partnerships with Michigan Voices.
That access to healthcare can mean a lot of things, according to Daniel Hamilton, who works as director of public policy with YWCA Kalamazoo.
"Whether that's birthing justice, whether that's youth access to reproductive health care, abortion care, gender-affirming care, it's really important that we're having this conversation together," he said.
Advocates called for improvements to health outcomes, especially for Michigan's Black community, which disproportionately deals with issues like higher infant and maternal mortality rates.
"I have four daughters, and I want to make sure that they had the rights in place that I had as well. So that's why we continue to do the work to make sure young people, they have that care," said Watson-Whittaker.
Advocates were joined by State Rep. Laurie Pohutsky, who urged attendees to continue pushing for access to healthcare.
"The conversations that we had around the repeal of the 1931 law indicated to me that if we just kind of sit back on our heels, that right will be chipped away consistently," she said. "So doing away with some of these punitive laws that were always meant to just limit access within the confines of Roe v. Wade is also a step that we can take to not be complacent."
