Focusing on women’s health rights

Women’s History Month has passed, however, the discussion about women’s health rights is an ongoing conversation, especially in politics.

Women leaders at the annual FOCUS St. Louis Women’s History Month Breakfast on March 13, 2024, spoke candidly about women in leadership and how to protect women’s rights.

Sandra Moore and other women shared tips for navigating power structures, achieving change, and how they lead in community and civic spaces during the event at the Missouri Athletic Club.

“Here’s what I know about women, we are the most powerful beings on earth,” said Moore, managing director and chief Impact officer at Advantage Capital. 

Equity across the board is a cause that she stands behind, including women’s health. She said to help get equity for all women, as she looked out to the audience, “It's time white people of goodwill join the fight. We need you.”  

FOCUS St. Louis provides diverse leaders with the civic awareness and powerful connections needed to be collaborative changemakers. Cohorts learn how to advance professionally and personally thrive in all areas.

The FOCUS continuum of civic leadership programs is designed to serve high school students to senior executives. to meet participants where they are, from high school students to senior executives. FOCUS brings together community members to deliberate on critical regional issues in a trusted, nonpartisan space.

Moore told the audience strong women mentored her throughout her life. Following up on Moore’s comment, Natasha Leonard said, “It’s ok for women to have support, a circle that we can lean on.”

Leonard, a former FOCUS cohort, is the community partnership director at Renaissance Financial.  “I have a chance and a voice to make a difference in communities, and that’s extremely powerful,” she said.

In a one-on-one with St. Louis American Leonard said, “Women should have autonomy over their bodies.”

Her advice is for women to rally together and be supportive of one another. Leonard believes it’s time for women to lean on their allies.

“Vocalize our rights as women in the spaces we have,” she said.

She hopes the St. Louis region can figure out how to activate communities to get past the talking phase and step into putting action behind the words. 

Moore suggested,  “We’ve got to take off our blinders and realize what is going on in this state, in this country, is an exocentric threat to women. The right to be a full citizen.”

According to the Center for Reproductive Rights on June 24, 2022, Missouri began enforcing its trigger ban, which bans all abortions except to save the life of the pregnant person. This immediately followed the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade in its Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision.

Missouri GOP officials triggered a near-total ban on the procedure — with no exceptions for rape or incest, only some medical emergencies.

“Women have the right to determine their lives and to live as equal citizens in this country,” Moore said, adding that Black women are not invested in, or investigated enough [in health care] from postpartum to menopause to sexuality.”

Andrea Cox, the wellness lead at Rung for Women, advises women to take advantage of a self-care day. She suggests going for a walk, making a cup of your favorite tea–and participating in a yoga or fitness class.

“Wellness is more than your physical body. It’s also your mental health and social health,” she said.

Rung for Women offers free access to family health care, behavioral health care, gardening, and yoga.

St. Louis Diaper Bank Executive Director, Muriel Smith says it’s time to talk about the benefits of women being in healthy environments.

“Women being healthy mentally and physically benefits everyone else,” she said. 

Smith points out that in most cases women are heads of the house, professionally some women are heads of major companies.

“We do a lot,” she said. “And when we’re healthy everyone is healthy.” 

Ashley Winters is a Report for America reporter for the St. Louis American.