UNITED STATES OF AMERICA-ABORTION-TBs-CERD

Concluding Observations on Report 10-12 (2022) (Link)

Maternal mortality and sexual and reproductive health

35. The Committee notes the measures taken by the State party to address the high maternal mortality rates and to improve access to sexual and reproductive health services, such as the White House Blueprint for Addressing the Maternal Health Crisis, of 24 June 2022; Executive Order 14076 on “Protecting access to reproductive health-care services”, of 8 July 2022; and Executive Order 14079 on “Securing access to reproductive and other health-care services”, of 3 August 2022. However, the Committee is concerned that systemic racism, along with intersecting factors such as gender, race, ethnicity and migration status, have a profound impact on access by women and girls to the full range of sexual and reproductive health services in the State party without discrimination. It is also concerned about the limited availability of culturally sensitive and respectful maternal health care, including midwifery care for those with low incomes, those living in rural areas, people of African descent and indigenous communities. It further notes with concern that racial and ethnic minorities are disproportionately affected by higher rates of maternal mortality and morbidity, and are at a higher risk of unwanted pregnancies and of lacking the means to overcome socioeconomic and other barriers to access to safe abortion. In this context, the Committee is deeply concerned at the Supreme Court’s ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, of 24 June 2022, which overturned nearly 50 years of protection of women’s access to safe and legal abortion in the State party; at the consequent profound disparate impact on the sexual and reproductive health and rights of racial and ethnic minorities, in particular those with low incomes; and at the disparate impact of legislation and other measures at the state level restricting access to safe and legal abortion or criminalizing abortion (art. 5).

36. The Committee recommends that the State party take further steps to eliminate racial and ethnic disparities in the field of sexual and reproductive health and rights, while integrating an intersectional and culturally respectful approach in, for instance, policies and programmes aimed at removing barriers to access to comprehensive sexual and reproductive health services, and those aimed at reducing the high rates of maternal mortality and morbidity affecting racial and ethnic minorities, including through midwifery care. The Committee also recommends that the State party take all measures necessary, at the federal and state levels, to address the profound disparate impact of the Supreme’ Court’s ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization on women of racial and ethnic minorities, indigenous women and those with low incomes, and to provide safe, legal and effective access to abortion in accordance with the State party’s international human rights obligations. It further recommends that the State party take all measures necessary to mitigate the risks faced by women seeking an abortion and by health providers assisting them, and to ensure that they are not subjected to criminal penalties. In that respect, the Committee draws the State party’s attention to the World Health Organization’s Abortion Care Guideline.

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Concluding Observations on Report 7-9 (2014) (Link)

[no mention]

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Concluding Observations on Report 4-6 (2008) (Link)

33. The Committee regrets that despite the efforts of the State party, wide racial disparities continue to exist in the field of sexual and reproductive health, particularly with regard to the high maternal and infant mortality rates among women and children belonging to racial, ethnic and national minorities, especially African Americans, the high incidence of unintended pregnancies and greater abortion rates affecting African American women, and the growing disparities in HIV infection rates for minority women (art. 5 (e) (iv)).

The Committee recommends that the State party continue its efforts to address persistent racial disparities in sexual and reproductive health, in particular by:

(i) Improving access to maternal health care, family planning, pre- and post- natal care and emergency obstetric services, inter alia, through the reduction of eligibility barriers for Medicaid coverage;

(ii) Facilitating access to adequate contraceptive and family planning methods; and

(iii) Providing adequate sexual education aimed at the prevention of unintended pregnancies and sexually-transmitted infections.

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Concluding Observations on Report 1-3 (2001) (Link)

[no mention]

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