"If children cannot see, they cannot learn; if they have untreated medical conditions, they cannot fo..." — Leana S. Wen

After eight years of fighting, and multiple rounds of chemotherapy, surgery, and radiation, my mother lost her battle with cancer. I think about her every day. I miss her terribly, and wish she were there to walk me down the aisle at my wedding and to cheer when my sister received her college diploma.

For covid-19, we can think of risk through three key variables: proximity, activity and time. The highest-risk scenario is if you are in close proximity with someone who is infected, in an indoor space, for an extended period of time.

Without access to quality, affordable reproductive health services - which are standard medical care - women will die because they are forced to forego the necessary prevention and treatment for cervical cancer.

It is imperative that we address the barriers to access and the systemic racism that we know is contributing to our astronomically high maternal mortality rates. The onus must be on the health care system to make necessary changes.