As mothers, caretakers, workers, community members and activists, we have many stories of illness, unemployment, marginalization, anxiety, and vulnerability.  We often hear many of these stories and perspectives on Feministing.com. Now is a crucial moment in the political mobilization for a new health care system – and women’s voices on the grassroots level are critical. We have too much important experience to share, we cannot stay silent.

While some pundits speculated during the election season that, come the new administration, the “health care issue” would fall by the wayside in the midst of more pressing economic concerns, President Obama has made it clear that our health care is not something we can afford to put off any longer.  On March 4, the President hosted a White House Forum on Health Reform where he remarked that the present day effort to reform the health care system is distinctly different from any in the past in that “this time the call for reform is coming from the bottom up.”

I work at Raising Women’s Voices, a national initiative that engages a broad array of women’s health advocates in local, state, and national reform discussions to ensure that women’s concerns are addressed at every stage of these efforts. And we’re hosting an event to make sure that the country hears our voices.

Raising Women’s Voices for the Health Care We Need is staging a SpeakOut on the evening of April 1, in New York City, where women’s perspectives about their health care needs and those of their families will be powerfully articulated, genuinely considered and incorporated into health care reform plans.

As an intern in women’s health advocacy, it is encouraging to hear the President of the United States say these words; to know that he and his administration are tuned into the discussions being generated on the grassroots level across the country.  This is critical to any hope of constructing a truly inclusive health care system, given the individualized medical and insurance concerns that afflict many of our communities.

The current system is riddled with disparities in every conceivable form, too many of which have been invisible to the national eye and fallen on the deaf ears of policymakers for far too long.  Tens of millions of Americans struggle to live under a health care system that reinforces broader social and economic inequalities on the basis of race, gender, sexuality, citizenship, and more.  These disparities are propagated by a system that neglects to properly train health care providers in culturally sensitive ways; enables insurance companies to discriminate on the basis of pre-existing conditions, such as C-sections and breast cancer; allows for ideologically-based distinctions between what type of care is considered eligible for coverage and what is not, such as medical expenses related to gender transitioning; disproportionately punishes women who are more likely than men to have part-time jobs or work in industries that do not provide employer-based coverage; and the list goes on.

There is unquantifiable value in blogging about our anger and frustrations with a government that thinks certain people’s health concerns are more valid than others and seems more interested in protecting the interests of insurance companies than its own people.  We also need to share our own stories.  If we don’t speak our stories, then policy-makers and administration officials won’t know that we care about getting health care reform that truly meets our needs!

We want to hear from women of all ages and from all backgrounds about your experiences with the health care system.  Many women tend to minimize their experiences; they feel their stories are not “harrowing enough,” that they were not “sick enough,” or that they have not “suffered enough” to warrant speaking out.  But the Raising Women’s Voices initiative seeks to give a platform to all women who feel the coverage or treatment they received was less than adequate, and who demand better health care for themselves, their families, and their communities.

If you would consider sharing your story at the SpeakOut, please reach out to us by calling 212-870-2010 or emailing info@raisingwomensvoices.net

Our voices will be heard on Wednesday, April 1, at the Interchurch Center (475 Riverside Drive) in New York City. Come and join us!

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