Health Care, Reproductive Justice
Following the news that Representative Rachel Talbot Ross has been elected Speaker of the House of Representatives for the 131st session of the Maine Legislature, Maine Family Planning President and CEO George A. Hill released the following statement:
“Speaker Rachel Talbot Ross’s ascension to the Speakership is a long overdue moment to celebrate, and a reminder that the lived experience of Black women has so far been missing from the top leadership job in the Legislature.
We only need to look at health disparities, particularly maternal health outcomes, between communities that are Black, Indigenous, and of color and their white counterparts to see that systemic racism continues to have devastating consequences –– and that we have a long way to go to improve opportunities and outcomes for historically disadvantaged communities in our state. Speaker Talbot Ross has a track record of putting racial justice front and center in her work and we’re confident that she, along with Majority Leader Mo Terry and Assistant Majority Leader Kristen Cloutier, are committed to building a better, more just Maine.”
