Rice Bill to Create Study on Racial Disparities on the Reproductive and Sexual Health of African American Women Clears Committee

Trenton –Legislation sponsored by Senator Ronald Rice, which would require the New Jersey Office on Minority and Multicultural Health to study racial disparities on sexual and reproductive health of African American women, cleared the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee today.

“Due to structural and systematic racism, people of color in the U.S. are disproportionately unable to access and benefit from quality health care, leading to poorer health outcomes,” said Senator Rice (D-Essex). “While New Jersey has a strong record for advancing reproductive health care policy, programs that serve low-income people, especially women of color, have chronically been vulnerable to funding cuts. We need to study these effects in order to figure out ways to reverse these horrible trends.”

In the bill, S-3522, the purpose of the study would be to identify statewide and regional trends, patterns and racial and ethnic disparities in adverse health outcomes that may affect the sexual and reproductive health of African American women. The study would also review the extent of those effects in order to indicate the need to increase access to health care services among racial and ethnic populations in that area. Finally, the study would identify ways to reduce or eliminate racial and ethnic disparities that affect the sexual and reproductive health of African American women.

The bill was released from committee by a vote of 12-0.