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Researchers have found that if abortion care is banned throughout the United States, the number of maternal deaths would rise by 24 percent. This number is even worse for Black women, whose deaths would rise by 39 percent. How do we both safeguard abortion and tackle the maternal health crisis in these challenging political times?

On Tuesday, October 22 at 2:00 PM, join The Century Foundation as we discuss how abortion bans and restrictions are affecting maternal health outcomes across the country, and identify possible solutions. 

Live CART and ASL interpretation will be provided.

Special Remarks:

  • Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett (D-TX)
  • Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (MA-07)

Featuring:

  • Moderator: Elizabeth Dawes, director of maternal and reproductive health and senior fellow, The Century Foundation 
  • Brittany Mostiller, storyteller, We Testify
  • Dr. Jamila Perritt, president and CEO, Physicians for Reproductive Health

Presented by The Century Foundation. 

Speaker Bios

Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett has purposefully made every decision with one goal in mind: protecting the civil liberties of those in underrepresented communities. As a public defender, civil rights attorney, State Representative, and United States Congresswoman, Jasmine Crockett dedicates her life to public service, with the goal of serving justice and ensuring equality for all. For more information: crockett.house.gov

Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley is an activist, a legislator, a survivor, and the first woman of color to be elected to Congress from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Throughout her career, Congresswoman Pressley has fought to ensure that those closest to the pain are closest to the power—driving and informing policymaking. In Congress, she has been a champion for justice and healing: reproductive justice, justice for immigrants, consumer justice, justice for seniors, justice for workers, justice for survivors of sexual violence, justice for formerly and currently incarcerated individuals, and healing for those who have experienced trauma. She has also turned her experience living with alopecia into action, becoming a leading voice fighting to raise awareness and support for the alopecia community across the nation. Congresswoman Pressley currently serves on the House Committee on Oversight and Reform and the House Committee on Financial Services. Prior to being elected to Congress, she served on the Boston City Council for eight years, and was the first woman of color elected to the council in its 100-year history.

Elizabeth Dawes, MPH (she/her), is director of maternal and reproductive health and a senior fellow at The Century Foundation, where she leads the organization’s efforts to advance maternal health equity and reproductive justice, with a focus on eradicating the structural barriers facing communities of color. Elizabeth brings extensive experience as a strategist, advocate, and convener working for Black women and people of color. 

Brittany Mostiller (she/her) is the Associate Director of Political Education at the National Network of Abortion Funds. As the former executive director of the Chicago Abortion Fund, she launched the compassionate care model for abortion fund callers and staff, centering reproductive justice as a praxis within the field. Leveraging her lived experience as a fund member and abortion fund grantee, Brittany also facilitates community care spaces for abortion fund staff. She is a proud Cancer, Chicago Southside native, queer mama of four, and cat lady with a lot to say.

Dr. Jamila Perritt (she/her) is a fellowship trained, board-certified Obstetrician and Gynecologist and President and CEO of Physicians for Reproductive Health (PRH), a physician led organization that mobilizes the medical community, educating and organizing providers, using medicine and science to advance access to reproductive health care for all people. She has a comprehensive background in family planning and has worked more than 20 years in the reproductive health, rights and justice spaces. She provides on the ground, community-based care focusing primarily on the intersection of sexual health, reproductive rights, and social justice. In addition to her work as a clinical provider in the Washington, DC area, she has led PRH since 2020. Dr. Perritt’s work as a passionate advocate for reproductive health, rights and justice has allowed her to work closely with many organizations in support of access to comprehensive reproductive health care, including Advocates for Youth and Planned Parenthood Federation of America. Dr. Perritt serves via Mayoral appointment as co-chair of Washington DC’s Maternal Mortality Review Committee. She is a Fellow of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) and has served as Chair of ACOG’s Committee for the Health Care for Underserved Women. She is a member of the Society of Family Planning, the Black Mamas Matter Alliance, the Black Maternal Health Federal Policy Collective and a founding member of CERCL-FP (Centering Equity and Racial Literacy in Family Planning.)