Note: This Q&A first published in Mississippi Today’s InformHer newsletter. Subscribe to our free women and girls newsletter to read stories like this monthly.
Rep. Zakiya Summers, D-Jackson, is a second-term lawmaker who has been outspoken on the need for Medicaid expansion and on a number of women’s health issues. Summers authored House Bill 1154 this session to ensure access to contraception.
After the fall of Roe v. Wade in June of last year, the federal constitutional right to contraception became a topic of national discussion. U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas called on the Supreme Court to review Griswold v. Connecticut, the landmark decision in which the court ruled that married couples have the right to access contraception.
Soon after, 195 Republican members of the U.S. Congress, including every Mississippi Republican in the House, voted against the “Right to Contraception Act,” which would have codified the right to contraception under federal law. Since then, some state legislatures have introduced bills to restrict access to contraceptives or allowed health providers to refuse to provide or cover contraception.
The Dobbs ruling made access to contraception more critical in Mississippi, which has among the country’s highest rates of unplanned pregnancy and maternal mortality and the highest rate of infant mortality.
Gov. Tate Reeves has been unclear about his stance on contraception, refusing to rule out contraceptive bans or define what he considers contraception versus “abortion-inducing” pills and devices.
Mississippi Today spoke with Summers hours before the House passed a Medicaid expansion bill and the day before a presumptive eligibility bill, co-authored by Summers, was sent to the governor for approval.
Editor’s note: This Q&A has been edited for length and clarity.
Mississippi Today: Can you tell us a little bit about yourself? What have you been focused on in past sessions and what’s on your agenda this session?
Zakiya Summers: I am Zakiya Summers. I serve as state representative for House District 68, which covers Hinds and Rankin counties. I’m in my second term, so this is my fifth session. The first term was a bit of a learning curve even though I had been a part of the policy advocacy table for a number of years, it’s different when you’re in the belly of the beast. I really prioritized five issue areas: education, election reform, increasing access to health care, infrastructure and economic development. We were pretty successful during the first term – we got a few things passed through our work with colleagues across the aisle.
My proudest moment has been to be in a position where I was able to cast my vote to take down the Confederate flag and put up a new flag. It was very personal for me because the flag was a very traumatizing symbol, even for my husband. I was honored and privileged to be able to do that after many, many years, decades, of a lot of different people who were working on that issue for a long time.
Another bill that I’m really proud of is a law that now implements computer science curriculum in K-12 education. I thought that was extremely important because I understand that in order for us to do some of the things that Gov. Reeves talked about in his State of the State around really helping to build wealth and prosperity in the state of Mississippi, we have to prepare young people for the jobs of the future. And I know that jobs of the future will be heavily technology-based. I mean, we saw that in the huge economic development deal that we did at the beginning of the session with Amazon web services.
This year, I’m pushing the Right to Contraception Act. I’m also pushing a bill called the Crown Act which would prohibit hair discrimination in schools and I think it’s gaining some momentum.
MT: Can you tell us a little bit about the story behind the Right to Contraception Act?
ZS: The Right to Contraception Act is really an effort to be proactive and to raise the bar, elevate the message around preventative health. We’ve received so many dismal reports from health experts, from our medical health officer, from out chief health officer about the really negative, unfortunate health outcomes and health disparities we have in the state of Mississippi. Mississippi is 50th on the list in the entire country with those health disparities. And we know that when families have access to the things they need they can make the best decisions for their lives and for their families and for their future. And so we see the Right to Contraception Act as an opportunity for Mississippians to have unfettered access to contraception if they would like to have that and it will help them to make the best decisions for them.
MT: It might seem far-fetched to some people that Mississippians could lose access to contraception. But we’ve seen with recent events – IVF in Alabama, for instance – that liberties we take for granted aren’t always guaranteed. Why is it important in the Legislature to predict what may happen down the road and get ahead of it with policies and laws that preserve the liberties we take for granted?
ZS: It’s so important, especially when you see what’s happening across the landscape. We never would have thought that Roe v. Wade would be rolled back but elections have consequences. And when you don’t vote or you don’t vote for your best interests, you end up getting people in positions that can make these appointments to these courts and they end up rolling back precedents that we’ve had for decades. And it becomes more than just partisan politics – it becomes a matter of life and death.
We’ve seen with the overturning of Roe v. Wade that individuals no longer have the ability to make their own decisions about their health and their bodies. And then we also saw as a result of that decision an opinion by Supreme Court Justice Thomas that even hinted at removing the right to contraception. And then, when our governor was questioned about it, he was not clear about how he would move or what he would support or oppose around the issue.
You mentioned the IVF decision that came out of Alabama just last week. And now we’re talking about if an embryo is a person. So we’re beginning to see these – I really think they’re unintended consequences. Because I really don’t think that when the fight was around getting rid of Roe v. Wade that they even had the thought that these kinds of things would begin to roll out. And so what we want to do in Mississippi is we want to be pro-life all the way. And I actually see the Right to Contraception Act as a pro-life measure, because if we want to make sure that our boys and girls, men, women, families, are set up in the very best situation that they can possibly be in, where they can remain in a state that’s their home, but provides the conditions by which they’re not just surviving but thriving, then we should support the Right to Contraception Act because that is an important piece to this equation for them to be able to make those healthy decision for themselves.
MT: You helped author House Bill 539 on presumptive eligibility for pregnant women. It passed the House a few weeks ago now – quite early on in the session. Are you feeling hopeful that it will have more success this year than last year?
ZS: I am feeling incredibly optimistic this session. We have a speaker now, Speaker Jason White, that has encouraged and urged all of us to work on a bipartisan level. We are seeing our colleagues across the aisle actually bring us into conversations on legislation that we have been introducing for a number of years that are finally getting some light and attention. I think the energy has changed in the House and I really appreciate the Speaker, as well as the chairmen and chairwomen we have on committees right now, wanting to work with the Democrats. Because, I mean, let’s face it, we are in a super minority – we get that, we understand that. But we believe that Mississippians want us to work together, because the best ideas and the best solutions to the problems many of us face come from when we can get together and hash it out.
We know that we may not get everything we want. But let’s try to build some consensus and at least commit to working together as we move forward. And then Speaker White has also been very adamant about working with leadership in the Senate, as well. So that we can build a positive force on both ends of the Capitol and hopefully get some stuff to the governor’s desk that will be historic for the state of Mississippi.
MT: There are a couple of bills on chemical endangerment this year, which would allow for prosecution of pregnant women who take drugs during pregnancy. The author of one of the bills says it would not prosecute women for taking the abortion pill – that abortion pills are protected because they are prescriptions. But the author of the other chemical endangerment bill said that could be open for debate. What do you make of the obscurity in this legislation and do you think that obscurity is dangerous?
ZS: I think with any bill where you’re getting one perspective that’s different from the other, it’s something that we need to watch. Because it could put our autonomy at risk. And we need to know how is this going to impact the folks that live in our communities on whether or not they can access the things they need.
And, you know, we don’t represent the demographics of our state here in the Legislature. Our population, we have more women than we do men, but the percentage here, in the House as well as the Senate, is very, very low. I think we have a total of 17 women who serve as legislators. Now that doesn’t necessarily mean that because you’re a woman and you serve as a legislator that you’re going to do what’s best for women. But what I will say is that a man that has never had a uterus and has never carried a child and doesn’t understand the risks and also the fear that surrounds the ability and process of getting pregnant and having a child, it’s a real thing. When you look at the rates of our maternal mortality and infant mortality in the state, it’s something that our young women have in the back of their minds. And they want to be able to survive this pregnancy and also have a healthy child as an outcome. And then in addition to that be able to raise a child in a healthy environment. And so what we shouldn’t be doing, especially coming from a man, a man should not be telling women what to do with their bodies. I mean, that’s just the bottom line. And we should be able to get together, work with women, and work with experts that can give us the knowledge and the facts around what is good and what’s available for women and their families. Instead of doing everything we can to be punitive against women, we should be trying to help them be successful in the state.
MT: Are there any other bills you’re keeping an eye on? How are you feeling about Medicaid expansion this year?
ZS: I am so overwhelmed with Medicaid expansion. It passed out of committee yesterday and it’s going to come up in the House today. This is the first time in 10 years that we’ve even seen Medicaid expansion be put on the table. It’s a huge deal for the state of Mississippi for all the reasons I’ve talked about today with the health disparities and the negative health outcomes we have in the state. So I’m very excited about that. I am hopeful that our colleagues in the Senate will stand strong and also support this legislation and if, and I say if, a veto were to happen, that we also stand united and override that veto. Because the working families in our communities and our districts across the state are depending on this. They’re depending on us to do the right thing, to give them a chance to work, be healthy, take care of themselves, take care of their families, and achieve that dream of prosperity that Gov. Reeves talked about this week.
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