New Jersey has one of the highest maternal mortality rates for African American women in the United States. For instance, African American women are three times more likely to have pregnancy-related deaths in the United States, but in New Jersey they are seven times more likely to die, in large part due to systemic racism, says New Jersey First Lady Tammy Murphy.
The Garden State’s health care system is also plagued by inadequate desegregation, physician bias and a lack of federal intervention. All of this adds up to disparate health care outcomes for African Americans, says board-certified personal injury attorney Kay Van Wey, of Van Wey, Presby & Williams in Dallas.
