Coverage From the Storm: A.R.T. Insurance as Reparations for Biological Weathering

• Author: Mallori D. Thompson
• Pages: 251-264

Coverage From the Storm: A.R.T. Insurance as

Reparations for Biological Weathering

MALLORI D. THOMPSON*

ABSTRACT

Though the violence of racism in the United States has never been unknown to Black

Americans, the recent cases of police brutality and the resulting uprising have made it

abundantly clear that racial subordination is the thread of most—if not all—American

institutions. The racism perpetuated by these institutions has caused stress-induced wear

that is most visible in the reproductive context. This Note calls for reparations in the

form of expanded insurance coverage for infertility treatments. American racism is irre-

versibly diminishing the reproductive capacities of Black people, for which they deserve

an equitable chance at parenthood through reparations.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251

I. WEATHERING & ASSOCIATED PREGNANCY OUTCOMES . . . . . . . . . . . . . 252

II. ARTS & INSURANCE COVERAGE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 254

III. COVERAGE EXPANSION AS REPARATIONS .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257

A. The Reparations Debate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 258

B. Procreation & the Expansion of Coverage for Fertility Treatments . 260

CONCLUSION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 262

INTRODUCTION

Typically, people

1

are most fertile in their twenties—the number of quality eggs is

the highest and pregnancy risks are the lowest. That is—unless you are a Black per-

son. By their twenties, Black people already have a reduced reproductive capacity—a

lesser ability and access to procreate due to a number of sociological and environmen-

tal factors, the least surprising of them being racism. “Reproductive capacity” is gen-

erally used to describe the number of offspring an organism or population can

* © 2022, Mallori Deanna Thompson, J.D.

1. In an effort to ensure the discourse on reproductive justice does not continue to center cisgender

women, this Note will use the gender-neutral term, “people,” when not citing to sources that refer only to cis-

gender women. This is an acknowledgement that transgender men and gender nonconforming individuals

have a place in the fight for reproductive justice.

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