Ed Zuroweste, MD, MCN’s Chief Medical Officer, will be one of seven expert panelists in a women’s human rights hearing in Texas this week. The event, called Nuestra Voz, Nuestra Salud, Nuestro Texas: A Women’s Human Rights Hearing will take place in the Rio Grande Valley on Monday, March 9, one day after a march and rally in honor of International Women’s Day.
The Lower Rio Grande Valley has seen extensive cuts in women’s reproductive health services in recent years, as a result of legislative efforts in Texas as well as long-term economic hardship in the region. Reproductive and cancer screening services have all but disappeared from the border. “They’re so poor – they’re some of the poorest counties in the country,” Ed explained. The region is not able to sustain clinicians, Ed continued: “It’s already hard to get providers there. A huge number of those people are undocumented, so access to insurance is really low.”
On Sunday, participants will gather for a rally to honor International Women’s Day, which has been celebrated annually on March 8th for over a hundred years, around the world.
On Monday, the hearing will convene, with 20 to 25 Texas Latina women providing testimony to the panel, detailing how their human rights have been violated along the border. At the conclusion of the presentations, “we, the seven panelists, are to give the verbal impressions of what we heard, or whatever impacted us the most,” Ed said. Panelists are to give their reflections and perspectives based on their expertise. Ed is one of the only clinicians on the panel; the other panelists are attorneys, human rights activists, and academics.
Upon the conclusion of the hearing, the proceedings will be presented to legislation. The events are co-sponsored by Nuestro Texas, the US Human Rights Network, the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health, and the Center for Reproductive Rights. Learn more about the event and register to attend here [2].
