International

Maternal Mortality is a Violation of

Women's Human Rights
by Kerry McLean

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fthe 529,000 estimated maternal deaths each year, 251,000 of those

deaths occurred in Africa. In Asia, it is estimated that about 253,000
women die each year from pregnancy and childbirth related causes,

with 136,000 deaths occurring in India alone.

Most maternal deaths are preventable in simple and cost-effective ways.

The majority of maternal deaths are caused by infections, blood loss and
unsafe abortion, all of which can be managed by health workers with midwifery
skills. According to an article in the OECD Observer^ a publication by the
Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, reducing maternal
mortality is not necessarily dependent on economic development. The article
argues that it would only cost about three dollars per person annually in
low-income countries to provide the essential services needed to tackle the
problem. Those three dollars would cover a skilled health worker to assist
every delivery; access to essential obstetric care for mothers and their infents
when complications atise; and family planning information and services so
that unwanted pregnancies and unsafe abortions can be avoided.
Last December I traveled to Brazil to
do research concerning a maternal mortality case. The deceased woman, "AP,"
was a woman of African descent. As are
the majority of Afro-Brazilians, she was
poor, and therefore relied on Brazil's
public heaith system. As any well-off
Brazilian will tell you, the public health
system is utilized by the poor. AP
received regular prenatal care at her local
hospital. When AP was six-months pregnant, she became very ill and sought
treatment at her local hospital, which has
emergency services. She was initially sent
home without being tested, but was
admitted when she returned two days
later still feeling ill. Three days afrer
being admitted, she died. Several fectors
contributed to AP's death, among them
the doctors' failure to administer routine

tests; the doctors' failure to do a necessary procedure, such failure eventually

causing her to hemorrhage; the only hospital accessible to her lacking emergency
obstetric care services; having to wait for
over eight hours for an ambulance to
transfer her to a better equipped facility,
while hemorrhaging and vomiting; and
being placed in a makeshifr space in the
emergency room hallway for 21 hours,
while in a coma, because there were no
available beds.
As recently as August 2005, the
United Nations Development Assistance
Framework Common Country
Assessment for Brazil noted the high
maternal mortality rates and detrimental
disparities in health care. Black, mulatto,
indigenous, poor and single women
living in the poorest regions of Brazil are

18 GUILD NOTES SUMMER/FALL 2007

disproportionately impacted by maternal

mortality.
Afro-descendants account for 62.4% of
the country's poorest 10%. Poverty is
concentrated amongst black or Afrodescendant women. Women of African
descent have less access to education,
they have a lower social and economic
status, and their housing and living
conditions are inferior to those of white
women.
Health care during pregnancy and
delivery varies substantially for black and
white mothers. Women of African
descent have less access to contraceptive
methods and have more pregnancies
than white women. Dortors are less
likely to perform breast and gynecological exams, and are less likely to prescribe
vitamins during prenatal care for black
mothers than for white mothers. There
are higher mortality rates among black
women, in all age groups. In the state of
Parana, 8 2% of all maternal deaths are
black, although they only represent 2.2%
of the population. This means a black
woman has a seven times higher tisk of
dying due to maternal causes than other
women.
Maternal mortality is a human rights
issue. It is a violation of women's human
rights to life, health and equality. Many
people accept maternal death as a natural
part of childbearing, rather than a
preventable loss of Ufe and the tragic
result of policy decisions that neglect
women. A few of the key human rights
implicated in cases of maternal mortality
are: the right to life and survival, the
right to health, and the right to equality
and nondiscrimination. The right to life
is implicated, because governments have
a duty to adopt positive measures to

International
prevent death where death is
preventable. The right to health is
implicated because governments have
an obligation to ensure access to quality
health care. The right to equality
and nondiscrimination is implicated
because maternal mortality is a type of
indirect discrimination. Only women
are affected by maternal mortality, and
its prevalence is indicative of disparity
and inequity between men and women.
Its extent is a sign of women's place in
S(Kiety and their lack of access to social
and health services, and to economic
opportunities.
When I went in Brazil I met AP's
mother, who lost a daughter. I met
AP's eight-year-old daughter, who
would now have to grow up without
a mother. I wrote this article for them,
for AP, and for the hundreds of thousands of women that continue to die
every year because they are poor and
are women of color^ and their governments think that their lives aren't worth
protecting.
Kerry McLean is the co-chair of the
Anti-Sexism Committee.

MAP Conspiracy Case Continues

NLG Attorneys Andrea Costello and Natalie Maxwell {pictured speaking into megaphone) currently represent feminist activists with the group Morning-After Pill
Conspiracy (MAP) in a federal lawsuit to challenge the Food and Drug Administration's
failure to provide unrestricted over-the-counter access to the pills {Anriie Tummino. et
al. V. Andrew/ von Eschenbach). The NLG Mass Defense Gommittee assisted the group
in January 2005 when activists sat-in at the FDA's headquarters to protest the agency's
blodcing women's access to the pills. Above photo is of MAP Conspiracy members holding a speak-out and civil disobedience action at the April 2004 March for Women's Lives
in Washington, D.C. and distributing the pills to women who need them in defiance of
the FDA's prescription requirement. Photo taken by plaintiff/ activist Jenny Brown. For
more information about the lawsuit, campaign and how to take action for women's
rights, visit: v/ww.mapconspiracy.org

The National Office still has the famous

Green Hats for legal observers available
Hats are union made (UNITE!), union irrphnted (UFCW) and state in big bold
black Letters: National Lawyers Guild LEGAL OBSERVER on the front. Hats are
$7 each (the same cost we paid plus postage). They are available from the
National Office to be given out to trained legal observers only.
Send a check or money order, number of
hats requested, and shipping address to:
National Lawyers Guild, 132 Nassau Street,
Rm. 922, New York, NY 10038
Or order by mail by contacting:
nlgno@nlg.org

SUMMER/FALL

2007 GUILD NOTES 19