For Undocumented Women Seeking Reproductive Healthcare, Policing and Politics Create a Maze of Barri

For Undocumented Women Seeking Reproductive Healthcare, Policing and Politics Create a Maze of Barriers


Maze (1)Reprinted with permission from Bitch

In September 2015, an undocumented woman arrived at a healthcare clinic outside of Houston for a routine follow-up exam. Blanca Borrego handed a false driver’s license to the receptionist at the Memorial Hermann women’s clinic upon check-in and waited to be called into the examination room with her two daughters at her side. They sat in that waiting room for two hours. Finally, when her name was called, her daughters stayed behind as she was led to an exam room where a Harris County Sheriff’s deputy was waiting for her. He handcuffed her and brought her through the clinic’s office, where her daughters waited, and her 8 year old burst into tears when she saw her mother under arrest. Her 22-year-old daughter, who has an open application for legal status through Obama’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, told the Houston Press that the sheriff’s deputy turned to her and said they were arresting her mom for false papers: “She’s going to get deported.”

Borrego has been released from Sheriff’s custody, and it’s likely that the arrest violates federal patient-doctor privacy laws, but charges are still pending and she risks being turned over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). As Borrego’s case works through the courts, reproductive health experts in Texas are concerned that her highly publicized arrest will prevent many undocumented immigrants from seeking medical attention, with fears that they will also be delivered into ICE custody by their medical providers.

National discussion about access to reproductive healthcare remains a hot topic, like the most recent campaign to defund Planned Parenthood based on a falsified video that is supposed to show that the organization is “selling baby parts.” Planned Parenthood president Cecile Richards was called to testify before Congress where she had to defend the organization’s use of funds. During these discussions, the high stakes and numerous hurdles that undocumented immigrants face to get basic care often remain out of the spotlight. In addition to the barriers imposed by anti-abortion legislation, there are literal borders set in place that prevent many immigrants from accessing federally funded clinics. While Borrego’s arrest occurred in a Texas suburb, racial profiling and border checkpoints directly thwart many people along the U.S. and Mexico border in the Rio Grande Valley from seeking healthcare. A Nuestro Texas report shows that “Texas Latinas ages 21-64 are less likely than Latinas nationally and less likely than white or black women in Texas to have received a Pap test within the last three years.” Additionally, women living in colonias (U.S. communities along the Mexican border) are 31 percent more likely to die of cervical cancer compared to women living in non-border counties. The report also shows that Latinas in Texas have a higher rate of general health problems that includes diabetes, cardiovascular disease and obesity. According to a national report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Black women have the highest cervical cancer incidence and mortality rates, with Latinas experiencing the second highest among all racial and ethnic groups. This all adds up to a grim picture: Because of the barriers to healthcare, many Latinas die from untreated and undiagnosed cancers at late stages of development. Racism, policing of immigrants and the recent restrictions on affordable healthcare lead to tragic, preventable deaths.

In colonias, many people are uninsured and/or undocumented. Many migrant communities rely on Title X providers, or federally funded clinics that provide services to people living 150 percent below the federal poverty level, regardless of documentation status. But border cities often exist in remote areas, far from abortion and family planning clinics. It can be dangerous to cross through U.S. Border Interior checkpoints in outside counties if you do not “pass” as a white Anglo U.S. citizen. The ACLU of Arizona recently released a report that documents abuses committed by Border Patrol agents in these areas, which includes threats with assaults and unlawful search and seizure of property. Fears of traveling between counties and across state lines to access medical care are spurred by these reports of deaths, arrests and possible deportation.

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http://msmagazine.com/blog/2015/11/16/for-undocumented-women-seeking-reproductive-healthcare-policing-and-politics-create-a-maze-of-barriers/