The Seeds of Early Childhood

Abstract

The trajectory of childhood is often shaped before childhood even begins. Pre-birth inequalities are not natural or inevitable. Rather, we create and cement policy choices that reduce access to adult healthcare, restrict accessible contraception, impede access to abortion, and deny prenatal care. Together, these choices mean that, in the United States, we maintain very high rates of unwanted pregnancy and increasingly high rates of maternal mortality and morbidity, burdens that fall disproportionately on women of color and women of lower socioeconomic status. Equality demands that we address these disproportionate burdens.

Keywords: inequality, women’s health, maternal mortality, mothers - socioeconomic status, contraceptives - accessibility, Affordable Care Act, racial disparities, abortion restrictions, TRAP laws, targeted regulation of abortion providers – laws