Norton Thanks Planned Parenthood and the NAACP for Leading Letter Supporting D.C. Statehood Signed by 250 Women of Color Leaders
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) today thanked Planned Parenthood and the NAACP for leading a letter to Congress signed by 250 women of color leaders supporting the District of Columbia statehood bill on public health and racial equality grounds.
"This letter makes important points," Norton said. "Statehood would give voting representation to the residents of the District, almost half of whom are Black, and it would improve our ability to enact effective public health campaigns and deliver those medical service to historically underserved Black communities. While ‘no taxation without representation' is our rallying cry, the letter led by Planned Parenthood and the NAACP notes many other reasons why statehood is the only just way to proceed for the residents of D.C."
The letter follows.
AN OPEN LETTER TO CONGRESS: D.C STATEHOOD IS AN
ISSUE OF PUBLIC HEALTH, RACIAL EQUITY
Washington, D.C.'s more than 712,000 residents pay federal taxes, serve in the armed forces, and outnumber the residents of Wyoming or Vermont. Yet, because the District is not a state, Washingtonians are denied the right to representation in Congress. They have no vote on the federal laws and policies that shape their lives. Instead, lawmakers who do not represent Washingtonians use the District's lack of statehood to play politics with residents' livelihoods, and with their health.
Nearly half of District residents are Black. If Washington finally became a state, it would be the first state with a plurality of Black residents. Statehood for the District of Columbia is a racial justice issue — and it's a public health imperative.
As the country works to distribute vaccines and end the COVID-19 pandemic — which has devastated Black and Latino communities with higher infection rates, death rates, and job losses — the District's lack of autonomy has put residents' health at risk. Large proportions of D.C.'s vaccine allotment has gone to federal agencies and to non-residents while Black residents are going without. While D.C.'s Black residents have accounted for nearly half of COVID-19 cases and nearly 70% of deaths, they've received only 37% of vaccines.
This is not new: Congress passes annual legislation prohibiting D.C. from using locally-raised tax dollars to cover abortion care for people enrolled in Medicaid, forcing many to pay out-of-pocket-for this essential health care service. Because of centuries of systemic racism, people who use Medicaid are disproportionately people of color — this D.C. Medicaid policy is part of the long history of denying Black and Brown people and immigrant communities autonomy over their reproductive health.
And reproductive health care in the District is in crisis: While white D.C. residents have a maternal mortality rate of almost zero, Black residents suffer a maternal mortality rate so high that the District has the fifth worst overall rate in the country — more than 50% higher than the national average.
It has always been morally reprehensible to deny the people of Washington, D.C. representation in our democracy. But the triple intersecting crises of COVID-19, systemic racism, and attacks on reproductive health have laid bare the depth of inequity experienced by D.C residents, particularly those of color. People who live in Washington, D.C. are being denied the autonomy to build their own health care systems and make their own choices about their bodies. This is a matter of life and death.
We applaud the U.S. House of Representatives for passing H.R. 51: Washington, D.C. Admission Act. Now the U.S. Senate must immediately take up and pass the bill and admit the District as the 51st state.
Sincerely,
Alexis McGill Johnson, President and CEO, Planned Parenthood Federation of America
Dr. Serina Floyd, Vice President of Medical Affairs/Medical Director, Planned Parenthood of
Metropolitan Washington, DC
U.S. Rep. Lauren Underwood (IL-14)
Akosua Ali, President, NAACP Washington, DC Branch
Charisma K. Adams
Abiola Agoro
Yvette Alexander
Akosua Ali
Ashley Allison
Karen Maria Alston
Alexis Anderson-Reed
Rev. Rochelle S. Andrews
Maritza Arias Basemore
Shavon Arline-Bradley
Wandra Ashley-Williams
Ophelia Averitt
Jacqueline Ayers
Jasmine Bailey
Valerie Hollingsworth Baker
Michele Barnwell
Cora Masters Barry
Maya J. Bermingham
Alaina C. Beverly
Denele D. Biggs
Lori George Billingsley
Natasha Black
Jinger Black
Larcine Bland
Arletha Bland-Manlove
Ashley Bland Manlove
Barbara Bolling-Williams
Dr. Toni Bond
Councilmember Anita Bonds
Briana Booker
Karen Boykin-Towns
Renee Bracey Sherman
Donna Brazile
Charisse Bremond Weaver
Roslyn M. Brock
Dr. Sonja Brookins
Debra Brown
Dy Brown
Cherie Brown Jackson
LaKeisha Brown
LaSharron T. Brown
Khadijah Brydson Van
Irene Bueno
Kelly Burton
Jara Butler
Lisa D. Cagnolatti-Daniels
Ericka Cain
Melanie Campbell
Glynda Carr
Adria Carter
Virginia Case
Chellee R. Cephas
Judith G. Cephas
Angela Chester-Johnson
Jessica Childress
Juliet Choi
Melika Clarke
Delmarie Cobb
Brandi Colander
Dr. Johnnetta Betsch Cole
Carolyn Q. Coleman
Edda Collins Coleman
Maurita Coley
Debra A. Collins
Judie Hawley Conley, Esq.
Akua D. Coppock, Esq.
Sharon Cox
Renee Crews
Danielle Daughtry
Rev. Leah Daughtry
Barbara Sapp Davis
Theresa A. Dear
Paula DeBoles-Johnson
Jacquelyn Demps
Judith Browne Dianis
Georgette Dixon
Abby Dobson
Robyn Donaldson, JD
Hazel N. Dukes
Paula Dunbar
Emem Dunn
Jotaka Eady
Chioma Echeumuna
Dr. Ramona H. Edelin
Katherine T. Egland
Kimberley Egonmwan. Esq.
Amanda E. Ferguson
Charnell Ferguson
Leslie G. Fields, Esq.
Maisha Fields
Carolyn Fleming-Williams
Tiffany Flowers
Chevelle Glymph Foster
Sasha Francis, Esq.
Shelley Franklin
Ollie Garrett
Dr. Glenda Baskin Glover
Vanessa Gonzalez
Amber Goodwin
Fatima Goss Graves
Elizabeth Gramling
Sierra Greelee
Kayla Green
Tammy Greenlee Brown
Tamara Gregory
Teresa Haley
Antoinette MaCintosh Harper
Khalilah Harris
Porschia Harris
Sharina Haynes
Ash-Lee Woodard Henderson
Councilmember Christina Henderson
Marsha Henderson
Silvia Henriquez
Alicia Henry
Carmel Henry
Sinsi Hernández-Cancio
Gwainevere Hess
Audrey Hipkins
Holli Holliday
Dr. Adrian Hollis
Rev. Dr. E. Gail Anderson Holness
Tasha Homes
Marcela Howell
Alice Huffman
Marnell Hughes
Tiffany Hughes
Monica Hutchinson
Antoinette M. Jackson, Esq.
Dorothy Jackson
Kwajelyn Jackson
Michele Jawando
Bryna Jean-Marie
Kimberly Jeffries Leonard
Laura Jiménez
Kathy Johnson
Dawna Jones
Katrina Jones
LaToia Jones
Star Jones
Stephanie Jones
Robin Kelly
Carolyn Kennedy
Hazel Kennedy
Tonya Vidal Kinlow
Chelsea Kohler
Denise Lee
Yonelle Moore Lee
Marie Y. Lemelle
Natasha Lewis
Ruby Lewis
Rasheeda S. Liberty
Robyn Liverpool
Tanya Leah Lombard
Katrina Long Robinson
Destiny Lopez
Jewel Love
Chancee Lundy Russell
Mayra Macias
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Celeste Malone
Dr. Julianne Malveaux
Rev. Dr. Charlette Stokes Manning
La'Tasha D. Mayes
Jamie McClain
Aisha J. McClendon
Raegan McDonald-Mosley
Dianna McFarlane
Dr. Lora Ellen McKinney
Angela McMillan
Michelle Y. Merriweather
Shari Miles-Cohen
Lorraine Miller
Vernice Miller-Travis
Kyra Mitchell
Minyon Moore
Victoria Moran
Karen Murrell
Helen Myers
Aisha Nash, Esq.
Sophia Nelson
Melanie Newman
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Aba Nsia Opare
Melba Pearson
Jamila Perritt
Desiree Peterkin Bell
Daniella Pierre
Rev. Dr. Zina Pierre
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Nichelle Po
Ayanna Polk
Neosho Ponder
Sandra Poole
Dr. Sharon H. Porter
Lauren Poteat
Sharon Pratt
Candace Prince Modeste
Andrea Pugh-Kelley
Najah Rahmaan
Dr. Michele C. Reed
Leslie E. Redmond
Dr. Sharetta Remikie
Rev. Adowa Rey
Angela Rye
Diana Thu-Thao Rhodes
Stasha Rhodes
Diane Robertson
Adzua Robinson
Chandra Robinson
Kelley Robinson
Madie Robinson
Yumeka Rushing
Deidre Sanders
Paula Sardinas
Margie Scott, Esq.
Eveline Shen
Esther Silver Parker
Stephanie Silverman
Monica Simpson
Eris Sims
Beverly E. Smith
Danyell Smith
Joanne N. Smith
Shirley Rivens Smith
Dee Srivastava
CeLois Steele
Lakeila R. Stemmons. Esq.
Annemarie Stephens
Jarrai Stephens
Tambra Stevenson
Rev. Dr. Gina Stewart
Tia Subramanian
Tanisha Sullivan, Esq.
Gloria J. Sweet-Love
Karli Swift
Haley Swindle
Danielle Sydnor
Tre Tailor
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Theresa Taylor Carroll
Eboni Rose Thompson
Nikki Thompson
Aimee Thorne-Thomsen
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Vanessa Toolsie
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Ra'Vynn Waters
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Rev. Melinda Weekes-Laidlow, Esq.
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Porsha White
Yvonne White
Samatha Whitfield
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L. Joy Williams
Robin Williams
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Latressa Wilson Alford, J.D.
Rev. Anika Wilson Brown
Kathleen Wilson-Thompson
Terri Wisdom
Charity L. Woods
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Tiffini A. Young