By — Frances Kai-Hwa Wang Frances Kai-Hwa Wang Leave your feedback Share Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/despite-state-efforts-to-protect-abortion-access-asian-americans-in-michigan-still-see-obstacles Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Despite state efforts to protect abortion access, Asian Americans in Michigan still see obstacles Nation Updated on Aug 12, 2022 4:38 PM EDT — Published on Aug 8, 2022 6:54 PM EDT When Dr. Tsu-Yin Wu was a young nursing student, newly arrived from Taiwan, she had a health scare. Even though she was in the privileged position of being a doctoral student in a nursing program and had access to the University of Michigan’s medical facilities, she felt alone and did not know what to do. Now a nursing professor and director of Center for Health Disparities Innovations and Studies at Eastern Michigan University, that personal experience continues to drive her commitment to researching and advocating for how Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) women experience different health issues. Wu said her research findings serve as the “voices of their journey,” while also advocating for more resources for them to overcome language, cultural, and systemic barriers. In 2021, Asian Americans and Pacific Islander residents in Michigan accounted for fewer than 2 percent of about 30,000 induced abortions, according to state figures. About 3.4 percent of Michigan’s population identified as Asian alone, and less than 0.05 percent were Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander alone, according to 2021 U.S. Census Bureau figures. But in the wake of the Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, advocates are concerned about how the decision will affect the maternal and reproductive health care of AAPIs, which is layered with cultural attitudes toward abortion and barriers to the procedure itself. READ MORE: A ballot initiative in Michigan could let voters choose whether abortion is a protected right According to AAPI Data’s analysis of the census’s 2020 American Community Survey, 32 percent of Asian Americans — the highest of any racial or ethnic group — and 12 percent of Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders have limited English proficiency and so may face language barriers in trying to access reproductive health care. These groups, depending on their national origin, may also face barriers related to income and health insurance coverage, living below the poverty level, or being undocumented, the data research organization found. Detroit Public Television’s One Detroit spoke to Michigan activists about the evolution of the Asian American civil rights movement. Dr. Tsu-Yin Wu spoke about the Healthy Asian Americans Project and the need for better health care outreach and services for small immigrant communities. Video by One Detroit Shortly after the Roe ruling came down, Isra Pananon Weeks, interim executive director of National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum (NAPAWF), called the high court’s decision a “direct and pernicious assault” on AAPI communities and other marginalized groups “where the path to abortion care is riddled with language barriers, cultural stigmas, and low rates of insurance coverage among our most vulnerable community members.” Weeks added that the barriers, too, were greater for AAPIs who work for low wages in frontline or service jobs, which made traveling for and receiving abortion care “often difficult if not impossible.” Although abortion is still legal in Michigan – court orders have temporarily blocked enforcement of a 1931 law banning abortion – that could end at any moment. Several challenges to and in support of the decades-old law are currently in progress, including separate lawsuits filed by Planned Parenthood of Michigan and Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. One proposed constitutional amendment, called the “Michigan Right to Reproductive Freedom Initiative,” also seeks to enshrine reproductive rights in the state constitution. Organizers said they submitted enough signatures to state officials – more than 425,000 are needed to qualify – to get the proposal on the ballot in November. State officials still need to verify all the signatures. Planned Parenthood Advocates of Michigan (PPAM) volunteers collect signatures for a ballot measure to amend the state constitution to protect reproductive rights in the state. Photo courtesy of PPAM Even with abortion rights protected, reproductive health care is still a challenge for AAPI communities. Those who identify as Asian alone form the fastest growing racial or ethnic group in the nation, according to census data, while Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islanders (NHPI) alone were the third fastest growing group, after Hispanics, in the U.S. Wu said she worries about the already existing challenges that AAPI and other underserved communities face accessing quality maternal and reproductive health care — including abortion. Without access, she thinks that people in these communities will disproportionately suffer harmful, enduring, and unnecessary health outcomes. “To be clear, this decision does not mean that no one will receive abortion care,” Wu said. “It simply makes people no longer have access to abortion care provided by trusted health care providers.” WATCH MORE: After Roe, abortion rights advocate predicts worsening Black maternal mortality crisis For those who seek abortion care outside of their communities, some will receive lesser quality health care, and some who are denied abortion may have their lives and well-being put at risk, she added. “Fundamentally, it does not provide individuals with the right health care they deserve,” Wu said. Challenges accessing health care Since 1996, Eastern Michigan University’s Healthy Asian Americans Project has created mobile community health clinics — staffed by people who speak Asian languages — to bring free flu shots, pap smears, mammograms, among other health services to Asian Americans in the state. The prevalence of the damaging “model minority” myth stereotype suggests Asian Americans are quiet and successful. In actuality, disparities vary among the 50-plus Asian ethnic groups in America, including systemic barriers to health care. Data for AAPIs, when disaggregated across ethnic groups, show how those disparities are masked when the numbers are averaged together. AAPI Data’s 2022 report about census survey data shows that 20 percent of Asian alone households and 4.7 percent of Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander alone households in the U.S. are linguistically isolated, which means that no one in the household over 14 years of age speaks English exclusively or “very well.” Those numbers soar even higher for new refugees; for example, more than 52 percent of Burmese households and 38.9 percent of Bhutanese ones have few adult English speakers. A man holds a poster as he participates in “The Unity March”, an Asian American-led event to promote socioeconomic and cultural equity, racial justice and solidarity on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. The event took place in June. Photo by Shuran Huang/Reuters Overall, according to AAPI Data, about 11 percent of Asian Americans and roughly 16 percent of NHPIs live below the federal poverty level. Some groups also struggle with health insurance coverage; a closer look at those numbers show that Marshallese and Mongolians were much more likely to not have health insurance. More than 65 percent of individuals who identify as Asian alone were born outside the U.S., according to the census – more than any other racial or ethnic group. When the data is broken down by Asian national or ethnic origin, about 82 percent of Nepalis, Bhutanese, and Malaysians are foreign-born. Among residents who identify as Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders alone, groups which have different immigration-related relationships with the U.S., about 24 percent are foreign born; and Fijians and Marshallese have the largest share of foreign-born residents. In addition, more than 1.7 million Asian Americans are undocumented, which may lead to reluctance to engage with governmental or official organizations. Some foreign-born residents, fearful of reporting, also avoid reproductive health providers out of fear of punishment and deportation. A call to action The Supreme Court decision draft leak in May gave Jungsoo Ahn some time to process, but she still felt overwhelmed at the release of the final ruling. “We knew that this was coming,” said Ahn, interim executive director of Rising Voices, a Michigan nonprofit organization that seeks to organize and develop the leadership of Asian American women and young people. “As a woman, I feel really crushed as well,” she added. “And then as one who is leading this organization that’s supposed to really advocate for women, it’s a feeling of almost helplessness.” Staff and volunteers for the nonprofit Rising Voices collect signatures for the “Michigan Right to Reproductive Freedom Initiative” ballot initiative petition at the Grand Rapids Asian Pacific Festival in Michigan. Photo courtesy of Rising Voices Nevertheless, she also felt called to action. She described the high court’s decision as a racialized attack on the rights of women and persons of color, especially those in low-income communities without means to seek reproductive health services elsewhere. Ahn also saw the decision as a kind of social control over poor and working-class, queer and trans, disabled Black and brown and Asian Americans. READ MORE: Missouri’s last abortion clinic finds itself in center of Roe fallout “Basically, 2022 is like act of hate, after act of hate, after act of hate. This is no different,” Ahn said. “We have to just get tough. And this is one of those things where we need to plow through and fight because abortion isn’t illegal in Michigan yet, so there’s a chance here to make sure that we’re mobilizing our communities to really advocate for this.” Some of the reasons AAPIs face difficulties obtaining birth control and information about how to prevent pregnancy, according to Sung Yeon Choimorrow, NAPAWF executive director, include language barriers, stigmas against discussing sex in the family and community, lack of sex education in schools, and fear of getting prescriptions for contraceptives or asking doctors questions when parents have access to medical records. WATCH MORE: Oklahoma Legislature bans most abortions following a national trend Although there may be some cultural, religious and social stigmas around abortion in Asian American communities, Ahn said that does not mean that people in the community are not having abortions. “We all know that they are, so it’s time also that our communities are very honest about some of these things as well,” she said. Ahn worries about how the Roe ruling is going to disproportionately affect poor and working class Asian Americans, who are already facing barriers to health care, like language access. “We can’t turn our backs on our working class [Asian Americans],” she said. “We need to make sure that we’re taking care of our people.” South Asian American leaders warn about more cases to come like that of Savita Halappanavar, a South Asian dentist living in Ireland, who died after being denied a timely abortion in 2012; or Purvi Patel, a South Asian American woman, who in 2014 was one of only two women – both Asian American – to be prosecuted under an Indiana feticide bill. “South Asians are especially vulnerable,” said Sharmin Hossain, campaign director of Liberate Abortion, in a statement from South Asian American leaders on abortion and reproductive justice, citing the lack of access to a variety of resources, alongside the shame and stigma that comes from pursuing reproductive health care, among other barriers. “[W]e are marginalized further without policies that support people’s whole lives.” What’s next Rep. Judy Chu, D-Calif., is the lead sponsor of the Women’s Health Protection Act, a bill that would prohibit governmental restrictions on the provision of and access to abortion services. Although the House passed a new version of the bill last month, it is expected to hit a roadblock in the Senate. Chu was also arrested at a June 30 abortion rights demonstration organized by Planned Parenthood outside the Supreme Court in the nation’s capital. “The decision to march today was easy,” Chu tweeted that day. “I came out to march for all of us.” Rep. Judy Chu, D-Calif., center, participates in a June 30 abortion rights demonstration outside of the Supreme Court in Washington, D.C. Photo by Sarah Silbiger READ MORE: How violence against Asian Americans has grown and how to stop it, according to activists Rising Voices has vowed to continue doing what they have been doing all along — being out in the community, holding events, getting people to the polls, and focusing on what it looks like and means to build political power in Asian American communities. Asian Americans have been shown to be the margin of victory in many elections, Ahn said, including 2020, and potentially 2022 too. “So more than ever, it is really important that Asian Americans show up to the polls.” Rising Voices is also demanding universal access to reproductive healthcare and abortion services, calling on elected officials to ensure that the most vulnerable are protected. The organization has continued to promote efforts, such as the Reproductive Freedom for All ballot initiative, to enshrine reproductive rights in the Michigan Constitution. “What we’re seeing is a lot of hate and a lot of harm in this world,” Ahn said, adding that the approach at Rising Voices is to combat that hate with love. “What that requires is a lot of self-love, a lot of community love, which then builds agency and power,” she said. “So when we’re talking about building power, that’s what we’re talking about. We’re talking about growing love.” By — Frances Kai-Hwa Wang Frances Kai-Hwa Wang Frances Kai-Hwa Wang is a Communities Correspondent for the PBS NewsHour out of Detroit and Dearborn, Michigan. @fkwang
When Dr. Tsu-Yin Wu was a young nursing student, newly arrived from Taiwan, she had a health scare. Even though she was in the privileged position of being a doctoral student in a nursing program and had access to the University of Michigan’s medical facilities, she felt alone and did not know what to do. Now a nursing professor and director of Center for Health Disparities Innovations and Studies at Eastern Michigan University, that personal experience continues to drive her commitment to researching and advocating for how Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) women experience different health issues. Wu said her research findings serve as the “voices of their journey,” while also advocating for more resources for them to overcome language, cultural, and systemic barriers. In 2021, Asian Americans and Pacific Islander residents in Michigan accounted for fewer than 2 percent of about 30,000 induced abortions, according to state figures. About 3.4 percent of Michigan’s population identified as Asian alone, and less than 0.05 percent were Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander alone, according to 2021 U.S. Census Bureau figures. But in the wake of the Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, advocates are concerned about how the decision will affect the maternal and reproductive health care of AAPIs, which is layered with cultural attitudes toward abortion and barriers to the procedure itself. READ MORE: A ballot initiative in Michigan could let voters choose whether abortion is a protected right According to AAPI Data’s analysis of the census’s 2020 American Community Survey, 32 percent of Asian Americans — the highest of any racial or ethnic group — and 12 percent of Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders have limited English proficiency and so may face language barriers in trying to access reproductive health care. These groups, depending on their national origin, may also face barriers related to income and health insurance coverage, living below the poverty level, or being undocumented, the data research organization found. Detroit Public Television’s One Detroit spoke to Michigan activists about the evolution of the Asian American civil rights movement. Dr. Tsu-Yin Wu spoke about the Healthy Asian Americans Project and the need for better health care outreach and services for small immigrant communities. Video by One Detroit Shortly after the Roe ruling came down, Isra Pananon Weeks, interim executive director of National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum (NAPAWF), called the high court’s decision a “direct and pernicious assault” on AAPI communities and other marginalized groups “where the path to abortion care is riddled with language barriers, cultural stigmas, and low rates of insurance coverage among our most vulnerable community members.” Weeks added that the barriers, too, were greater for AAPIs who work for low wages in frontline or service jobs, which made traveling for and receiving abortion care “often difficult if not impossible.” Although abortion is still legal in Michigan – court orders have temporarily blocked enforcement of a 1931 law banning abortion – that could end at any moment. Several challenges to and in support of the decades-old law are currently in progress, including separate lawsuits filed by Planned Parenthood of Michigan and Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. One proposed constitutional amendment, called the “Michigan Right to Reproductive Freedom Initiative,” also seeks to enshrine reproductive rights in the state constitution. Organizers said they submitted enough signatures to state officials – more than 425,000 are needed to qualify – to get the proposal on the ballot in November. State officials still need to verify all the signatures. Planned Parenthood Advocates of Michigan (PPAM) volunteers collect signatures for a ballot measure to amend the state constitution to protect reproductive rights in the state. Photo courtesy of PPAM Even with abortion rights protected, reproductive health care is still a challenge for AAPI communities. Those who identify as Asian alone form the fastest growing racial or ethnic group in the nation, according to census data, while Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islanders (NHPI) alone were the third fastest growing group, after Hispanics, in the U.S. Wu said she worries about the already existing challenges that AAPI and other underserved communities face accessing quality maternal and reproductive health care — including abortion. Without access, she thinks that people in these communities will disproportionately suffer harmful, enduring, and unnecessary health outcomes. “To be clear, this decision does not mean that no one will receive abortion care,” Wu said. “It simply makes people no longer have access to abortion care provided by trusted health care providers.” WATCH MORE: After Roe, abortion rights advocate predicts worsening Black maternal mortality crisis For those who seek abortion care outside of their communities, some will receive lesser quality health care, and some who are denied abortion may have their lives and well-being put at risk, she added. “Fundamentally, it does not provide individuals with the right health care they deserve,” Wu said. Challenges accessing health care Since 1996, Eastern Michigan University’s Healthy Asian Americans Project has created mobile community health clinics — staffed by people who speak Asian languages — to bring free flu shots, pap smears, mammograms, among other health services to Asian Americans in the state. The prevalence of the damaging “model minority” myth stereotype suggests Asian Americans are quiet and successful. In actuality, disparities vary among the 50-plus Asian ethnic groups in America, including systemic barriers to health care. Data for AAPIs, when disaggregated across ethnic groups, show how those disparities are masked when the numbers are averaged together. AAPI Data’s 2022 report about census survey data shows that 20 percent of Asian alone households and 4.7 percent of Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander alone households in the U.S. are linguistically isolated, which means that no one in the household over 14 years of age speaks English exclusively or “very well.” Those numbers soar even higher for new refugees; for example, more than 52 percent of Burmese households and 38.9 percent of Bhutanese ones have few adult English speakers. A man holds a poster as he participates in “The Unity March”, an Asian American-led event to promote socioeconomic and cultural equity, racial justice and solidarity on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. The event took place in June. Photo by Shuran Huang/Reuters Overall, according to AAPI Data, about 11 percent of Asian Americans and roughly 16 percent of NHPIs live below the federal poverty level. Some groups also struggle with health insurance coverage; a closer look at those numbers show that Marshallese and Mongolians were much more likely to not have health insurance. More than 65 percent of individuals who identify as Asian alone were born outside the U.S., according to the census – more than any other racial or ethnic group. When the data is broken down by Asian national or ethnic origin, about 82 percent of Nepalis, Bhutanese, and Malaysians are foreign-born. Among residents who identify as Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders alone, groups which have different immigration-related relationships with the U.S., about 24 percent are foreign born; and Fijians and Marshallese have the largest share of foreign-born residents. In addition, more than 1.7 million Asian Americans are undocumented, which may lead to reluctance to engage with governmental or official organizations. Some foreign-born residents, fearful of reporting, also avoid reproductive health providers out of fear of punishment and deportation. A call to action The Supreme Court decision draft leak in May gave Jungsoo Ahn some time to process, but she still felt overwhelmed at the release of the final ruling. “We knew that this was coming,” said Ahn, interim executive director of Rising Voices, a Michigan nonprofit organization that seeks to organize and develop the leadership of Asian American women and young people. “As a woman, I feel really crushed as well,” she added. “And then as one who is leading this organization that’s supposed to really advocate for women, it’s a feeling of almost helplessness.” Staff and volunteers for the nonprofit Rising Voices collect signatures for the “Michigan Right to Reproductive Freedom Initiative” ballot initiative petition at the Grand Rapids Asian Pacific Festival in Michigan. Photo courtesy of Rising Voices Nevertheless, she also felt called to action. She described the high court’s decision as a racialized attack on the rights of women and persons of color, especially those in low-income communities without means to seek reproductive health services elsewhere. Ahn also saw the decision as a kind of social control over poor and working-class, queer and trans, disabled Black and brown and Asian Americans. READ MORE: Missouri’s last abortion clinic finds itself in center of Roe fallout “Basically, 2022 is like act of hate, after act of hate, after act of hate. This is no different,” Ahn said. “We have to just get tough. And this is one of those things where we need to plow through and fight because abortion isn’t illegal in Michigan yet, so there’s a chance here to make sure that we’re mobilizing our communities to really advocate for this.” Some of the reasons AAPIs face difficulties obtaining birth control and information about how to prevent pregnancy, according to Sung Yeon Choimorrow, NAPAWF executive director, include language barriers, stigmas against discussing sex in the family and community, lack of sex education in schools, and fear of getting prescriptions for contraceptives or asking doctors questions when parents have access to medical records. WATCH MORE: Oklahoma Legislature bans most abortions following a national trend Although there may be some cultural, religious and social stigmas around abortion in Asian American communities, Ahn said that does not mean that people in the community are not having abortions. “We all know that they are, so it’s time also that our communities are very honest about some of these things as well,” she said. Ahn worries about how the Roe ruling is going to disproportionately affect poor and working class Asian Americans, who are already facing barriers to health care, like language access. “We can’t turn our backs on our working class [Asian Americans],” she said. “We need to make sure that we’re taking care of our people.” South Asian American leaders warn about more cases to come like that of Savita Halappanavar, a South Asian dentist living in Ireland, who died after being denied a timely abortion in 2012; or Purvi Patel, a South Asian American woman, who in 2014 was one of only two women – both Asian American – to be prosecuted under an Indiana feticide bill. “South Asians are especially vulnerable,” said Sharmin Hossain, campaign director of Liberate Abortion, in a statement from South Asian American leaders on abortion and reproductive justice, citing the lack of access to a variety of resources, alongside the shame and stigma that comes from pursuing reproductive health care, among other barriers. “[W]e are marginalized further without policies that support people’s whole lives.” What’s next Rep. Judy Chu, D-Calif., is the lead sponsor of the Women’s Health Protection Act, a bill that would prohibit governmental restrictions on the provision of and access to abortion services. Although the House passed a new version of the bill last month, it is expected to hit a roadblock in the Senate. Chu was also arrested at a June 30 abortion rights demonstration organized by Planned Parenthood outside the Supreme Court in the nation’s capital. “The decision to march today was easy,” Chu tweeted that day. “I came out to march for all of us.” Rep. Judy Chu, D-Calif., center, participates in a June 30 abortion rights demonstration outside of the Supreme Court in Washington, D.C. Photo by Sarah Silbiger READ MORE: How violence against Asian Americans has grown and how to stop it, according to activists Rising Voices has vowed to continue doing what they have been doing all along — being out in the community, holding events, getting people to the polls, and focusing on what it looks like and means to build political power in Asian American communities. Asian Americans have been shown to be the margin of victory in many elections, Ahn said, including 2020, and potentially 2022 too. “So more than ever, it is really important that Asian Americans show up to the polls.” Rising Voices is also demanding universal access to reproductive healthcare and abortion services, calling on elected officials to ensure that the most vulnerable are protected. The organization has continued to promote efforts, such as the Reproductive Freedom for All ballot initiative, to enshrine reproductive rights in the Michigan Constitution. “What we’re seeing is a lot of hate and a lot of harm in this world,” Ahn said, adding that the approach at Rising Voices is to combat that hate with love. “What that requires is a lot of self-love, a lot of community love, which then builds agency and power,” she said. “So when we’re talking about building power, that’s what we’re talking about. We’re talking about growing love.”