"Healthy Women, Healthy Families is a statewide coalition of more than 25 grassroots and nonprofit organizations that was launched by NARAL Pro-Choice Texas Foundation in 2008 to improve access to quality healthcare services for Texas women and families," says Katie Mahoney, project coordinator for the Healthy Women, Healthy Families Coalition and director of outreach & administration at NARAL Pro-Choice Texas. "Member organizations -- which represent a broad range of issue areas including social work, community development and environmental justice -- work to collect surveys from their communities in order to better understand the real health care challenges faced by women across the state."

"Why is this work so necessary?" Mahoney asks in an article for the Texas Lone Star Forum. "It's because Texas has some of the nation's highest rates of women without health insurance, child poverty, teen pregnancy, mothers who receive little or no prenatal care, and women over 40 who have not received a mammogram in the past 10 years."

"But that's not all," she continues. "Certain populations -- low-income women, women of color and disabled women, to name just a few -- experience even more troubling healthcare inequities. Black and Latina women have the highest death rates from cervical cancer. Women with disabilities are often denied certain types of healthcare or given substandard care. And half of all Texas women giving birth must rely on Medicaid to cover their child's birth."

"As part of the coalition's commitment to raising the voices of real women across the state, we made the decision to collect personal stories, not just numbers or statistics," Mahoney says. "Too often those with the fewest resources become just another number and their stories and lived experiences are ignored. Facts and figures are certainly powerful tools, but at the end of the day, what makes the most impact are stories from real people."

"The Healthy Women, Healthy Families coalition believes it is crucial that health policy reflect the real experiences of a broad range of communities, not simply those who have the resources and institutional power to advocate for their own healthcare needs," Mahoney concludes. "Through a multi-level strategy that includes targeted policy work, community education and media outreach, we are committed to making this happen. More information about Healthy Women, Healthy Families, including the survey, is available at www.healthywomenhealthyfamilies.org. We encourage all Texans, and especially women, to take the Healthy Women, Healthy Families survey and share their story today."

Copyright (C) 2009 by the Texas Lone Star FORUM. The Forum is an educational organization that provides the media with the views of state experts on major public issues. Letters should be sent to the Forum, P.O. Box 161294 Austin, TX 78716-1294.

About Katie Mahoney

Katie Mahoney is director of outreach & administration at NARAL Pro-Choice Texas and also project coordinator for the Healthy Women, Healthy Families Coalition. More information about Healthy Women, Healthy Families is available at www.healthywomenhealthyfamilies.org