Louisiana Republican Says His State’s Maternal Death Rate Is ‘Only Bad If You Include Black Women’


Louisiana has one of the worst maternal mortality rates in the country, ranking 47th out of the 48 states assessed, according to state officials. But one of two white male Republican Senators representing the state, who also happens to be a medical doctor, says that’s only because Louisiana’s statistics include Black women.
To think that Sen. @BillCassidy, who is an MD, can downplay Louisiana's maternal mortality rate because a third of the state's population is African American reinforces the underlying biases among medical professionals that might interfere with delivering the best maternal care. pic.twitter.com/MJr79z6TKN
— Dr. Robin Kelly (@RobinLynneKelly) May 21, 2022
So, Republican U.S. Senator @BillCassidy of LA is in the news today for making a horribly racist statement about maternal death rates.. 1/ https://t.co/SNTAPR3PIR
— Charles Gaba 🇺🇦 (@charles_gaba) May 21, 2022
As horrible as this sounds at face value, it’s actually even worse. Bill Cassidy is a physician. He’s implying that racial mortality differences are biological. They are not. They are due to systemic & structural racism that this dogmatic bias perpetuates. It’s medicalized racism https://t.co/UmIDfsIfQd
— Ryan Marino MD (@RyanMarino) May 21, 2022
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