Cincinnati study reveals complex reproductive challenges

By Sarah Crow Senior ResearchCommunications Associate Ohio Policy Evaluation Network  A study in Cincinnati by researchers Carolette Norwood and Thembi Carr, co-led by a community advisory board, shines a spotlight on why reproductive justice must be about more than abortion care. The reproductive experiences of Black women in Cincinnati, researchers explain, is inseparable from economic, political and ideological oppressions.  As the country heads into another election year, advocates from all sides fight to center reproductive choice in public discourse. Researchers with Ohio Policy Evaluation Network (OPEN) caution that reproductive choice without underlying human rights does not benefit those that the medical, economic and surveillance systems already disadvantage. In newly published research, Carolette Norwood and Thembi Carr explain their findings from interviews with Black women in Cincinnati.  “No two stories are the same. However, themes emerge from our research that suggest Black women in Cincinnati are facing a complex web of oppression that ends up affecting their reproductive lives,” said Carolette Norwood, the lead researcher on the project. “Ideas of beauty and body image, the strong Black woman trope, stigmas around motherhood and racism are just some of the issues we identified.”  Regardless of the political landscape, Black cis [gender identity...