SOUTH BEND, Ind. — A recently released “birth equity” study commissioned by the St. Joseph County Health Department shows how overtly political it had become in recent years. The study, which was commissioned by multiple former department heads, literally spells out that it was pushing for abortion through the framework of “Critical Race Theory.”
The county paid an organization called the National Birth Equity Collaborative to complete the study. In the report, the NBEC describes its methods.
“The National Birth Equity Collaborative grounded our assessment design and methodology in the Culture of Birth Equity framework (CBE). The CBE framework draws on several theories including intersectionality, reproductive justice (abortion activism), critical race theory and holistic maternity care to identify the characteristics of a Culture of Birth Equity in practice.” The report reads.
The St. Joseph County Department of Health came into a contract with the New Orleans based National Birth Equity Collaborative, in April of last year. The county paid nearly $20,000 for an NBEC seminar on April 13th and 14th in which the keynote speaker blamed “White Supremacy” as the reason for health disparities between races. RNM is still working to find out how much money was spent on the study itself.
STUDY LITTERED WITH LEFTIST POLITICAL IDEOLOGY
The study itself interviews 4 openly political department heads and only 42 citizens to come to its conclusions. Those conclusions simply attack elected conservative officials and push for racial division and abortion within public health.
“It was also noted that there is a lack of support for understanding the role that systemic racism plays in health inequities amongst members of the governing bodies.” One of the leadership interviews reads.
“Efforts to address inequity in experiences, access, and health outcomes have been impeded by an increasingly conservative political climate and legislation at the county, state, and federal levels. For example, participants pointed to the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision made by the United States Supreme Court in 2022 as well as developments in the St. Joseph County Council as examples of conservatism having an impact on community members’ reproductive health. There is a belief among some policymakers that health outcomes are solely the result of personal failures, rather than recognizing the role of systemic barriers and Social Determinants of Health. Participants reported that the political climate poses additional challenges to funding and sustaining equity-related projects. Participants perceived that the SJCDoH MIHI faces an uphill battle in securing the necessary resources and support to continue their birth equity work.” The summary of the leadership interview section reads.
The report also continuously pushes for abortion and derides the overturning of Roe v. Wade.
“Members of the SJCDoH leadership identified state policies and legislations as a challenge. They also pointed to the overturning of Roe v. Wade as a challenge.” The report reads.
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH DENIES PUSHING CRT AND ABORTION
The head of the Department of Health’s Birth Equity push during the study, Sally Dixon, has recently gone on a media blitz denying Critical Race Theory and abortion were ever being pushed by her or the department. Dixon resigned from the department late last month following multiple RNM stories exposing her political activism and an illegal raise she was given that nearly doubled her salary.
Dixon recently wrote an oped for the South Bend Tribune in which she attacked elected officials who brought up the CRT and abortion push, claiming they were making it all up.
Following the overturning of Roe v. Wade, Dixon was integral in the drafting of a pro-abortion press release sent by the DoH.
PROBLEMS WITH THE NATIONAL BIRTH EQUITY COLLABORATIVE
In an investigative report last year, RNM discovered the founder and operator of the National Birth Equity Collaborative has an extremely sordid past as a doctor herself. The doctor the county hired for the “Birth Equity” study has had her medical license suspended, practiced medicine without a license and has been accused of malpractice cases that ended in the deaths of a baby and a new mother.
Joia Crear-Perry’s medical practicing history is full of redflags in which she has shown herself to be dishonest and careless, at the least.
According to Louisiana state medical licensing records, in 2005, Crear-Perry had her hospital privileges partially revoked by the Baptist Memorial Medical Center for not following hospital rules and putting patient safety as risk. Crear-Perry was told her privileges would be restored after she went through another year of obstetrics training “at an approved residency program.” She requested a leave of absence to complete that training. However, instead of doing so, she sought staff privileges at another hospital, East Jefferson General Hospital, and never disclosed her suspension.
Crear-Perry also failed to disclose her suspension to the State Board of Medical Examiners, as required by law. She practiced for three years before the death of a child at her hands led to a medical malpractice lawsuit.
In 2007, Crear-Perry is accused of puncturing the amniotic sac of a 20-week pregnant woman, leading to the death of her unborn son. According to an article from the Times-Picayune, Crear-Perry was attempting to remove a non-existent IUD (implanted birth control device). Crear-Perry did not perform an ultrasound to confirm the existence of an IUD and performed the procedure without the use of an ultrasound when she ruptured the amniotic sac. The mother gave birth to a stillborn child weeks later.
In 2008, East Jefferson General Hospital revoked Crear-Perry’s medical privileges after they discovered she did not disclose her previous suspension from Baptist Memorial Medical Center. That same year, Crear-Perry was accused of medical malpractice that lead to the death of a new mother, according to the Times-Picayune.
Only months later, the State of Louisiana suspending Crear-Perry’s medical license for 6. However, the Licensing Board stayed the suspension in lieu of a 3 year medical license probation. Crear-Perry was ordered to do several things in order to have her license fully restored, however she ignored the state order and continued to practice medicine illegally.
In 2009, the State of Louisiana suspended Crear-Perry’s license entirely.
Then, in 2010, Crear-Perry was selected by New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu to be the city’s acting Health Director. That position was short-lived, as controversy over her suspended license led to her quickly resigning the position, according to a report by the Times-Picayune.
It wasn’t until 2014 that the State of Louisiana fully restored Crear-Perry’s medical license.
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