Efforts to improve health in the United States frequently exclude one group in particular: low-income communities. Ironically, low-income people and families are often the ones who need improved care the most. Additionally, anti-poverty strategies neglect to consider the history of coercion and bias inherent in poor peoples’ pursuit of healthy living and equitable care. This creates a devastating intersection specifically for low-income women who find that neither health policy nor anti-poverty policy has them in mind. This Note seeks to fill a gap in the literature by addressing this intersection. Additionally, topics like coercive birth control methods and predatory long-acting reversible contraceptives (LARC) practices are left out of larger conversations regarding birth control access due to the historic struggles to validate and decriminalize these options. This Note pushes the envelope by describing the drawbacks of these options while simultaneously offering solutions to improve them. Utilizing a timely approach to issues, like Medicaid and maternal health deserts, this Note also seeks to engage in rigorous anti-poverty scholarship while describing deficits and effects on women’s care in the United States. This Note seeks to shed light on this vulnerable community by, in Part I, breaking down several areas of health insecurity for low-income women, then identifying potential remedies for these areas in Part II, and finally fleshing out tangible, effective solutions that could be implemented with the help of community organizers, lawmakers, and national organizations in Part III.

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