Gun Violence Deeply and Uniquely Impacts Women and Children

But there is good news — in the states

Much ink has been spilled on the violent scene at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. No doubt the entire story is an indictment of so much of what is wrong in American life. Take your pick: the scourge of incendiary political rhetoric, vast partisan polarization, a nationwide mental health crisis, the calamity that is the federal government’s longstanding failure to enact meaningful gun safety laws. Or, more likely, all of the above.

There is another perspective that warrants our overt recognition at this moment. And that is how deeply and uniquely gun violence impacts women and children, nearly always at the hands of men.

Photo by Chip Vincent on Unsplash

When the shots rang out at the Washington Hilton, it had not even been a week since the nation mourned the eight children shot dead in Shreveport, Louisiana, seven of whom were the gunman’s own. Two women, including his wife, were also shot but survived; another child jumped off a roof to escape the shooting.

More than just about anywhere else in the country, American classrooms have become ground zero for preparing kids. That was the first thought I had when I heard real-time Saturday night dispatches, reporters claiming they instinctually knew to crouch under tables. That’s not instinct. That is an entire generation raised on active-shooter drills. (I’ll never forget my then 8-year-old daughter nonchalantly explaining to me the difference between color-coded school drills. “Don’t be silly, mom, no one has to go in the closet for a Code Yellow.”)

Not surprisingly, mothers have taken up the mantle. Moms Demand Action is among the most expansive grassroots mobilizations in the country fighting to prevent gun violence — a movement of “moms, dads, students, concerned citizens, and survivors working together to end this uniquely American crisis” by advocating for stronger gun laws and organizing in communities to keep families safe.

There is a direct throughline between guns and maternal health outcomes, as well. Designated a “twin crisis” by the Network for Public Health Law, homicide is a leading cause of maternal mortality in this country, and most homicides are committed using firearms. Here is a horrifying statistic: Women in the United States are more likely to be murdered during pregnancy or soon after childbirth than to die from the three leading obstetric causes of maternal mortality (hypertensive disorders, hemorrhage, or sepsis).

This sobering reality made the latest legislative news out of Virginia all the more inspired — a trio of bill packages passed into law, the combination of which addresses this intersection in a powerful way.

Over the past week, a suite of gun safety bills headed to Gov. Abigail Spanberger’s desk, several of which she signed into law, and others she amended, including a ban on the sale of assault weapons and high-capacity magazines — Virginia would be the 11th state to enact such a ban — as well as protections for domestic violence survivors, age limits on gun purchases, safe storage requirements, and industry accountability measures. Her statement of support for the bills ties directly to healthy families: “[G]un violence is the leading cause of death for children and teenagers in America, and that should motivate all of us to ask ourselves what we can do to mitigate this harm.”

She simultaneously signed bipartisan legislation known as the Momnibus, which aims to improve and expand healthcare coverage for mothers and families, particularly women who face the highest risks, by codifying the need to collect maternal health data, supporting mental health screenings of new parents, and expanding insurance and Medicaid coverage for a variety of care. The official announcement echoes the language of gun safety bills: “No mother should have to fear dying during or after childbirth, and no family should have to endure the pain of losing a mother to an avoidable death. The United States has the highest maternal mortality rate compared to any other high-income country, and we know Black women are at far greater risk than the rest of our neighbors.” The Momnibus bills have been years in the making and come at a critical time for reproductive rights as well as the need for safe communities.

Paid family and medical leave is the third key advance, which Spanberger signed into law last week as well. Expected to cover more than 3 million people, according to the National Partnership for Women & Families, eligible workers will no longer risk losing their jobs and will receive 80% of their average weekly wages up to a cap for up to 12 weeks a year to care for a newborn or a family member with a serious health condition or to recover from their own medical circumstances. Notably, Virginia’s paid leave law is the first to be passed in a Southern state, a “historic step forward” (the governor’s own words).

Any one of these bills alone might seem like the work of a state with a Democratic majority and a lot of political will. But at this moment, raw as it is, it is important to appreciate how deeply interconnected all of the issues are. That is also the story of our democracy fight. As we look ahead to the midterm elections, remember there are indeed policies that can make us safer and healthier. Don’t let anyone in the political establishment convince us it is not so.

Jennifer Weiss-Wolf is executive director of the Birnbaum Women’s Leadership Center at NYU School of Law. She also leads strategy and partnerships at Ms. Magazine.

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