People

Shelby Rae Wills shel-by rey wills

(they/them/she/her)

Buffett Foundation Fellow

Shelby Rae Wills is an investigative journalism graduate student at Arizona State University who graduated from the California State University of Channel Islands in 2016. Before coming to journalism, Wills taught grades ranging from 1st to 12th, both domestically and internationally.

In the South, grassroots activists are working to combat maternal mortality rates. Among them, from left, are: Maya Hart and Monica Simpson of SisterSong; Iesha Lynch, a birth, death and postpartum doula; Maya Jackson, founder of MAAME; and Tina Braimah, a midwife and owner of Sankofa Birth and Women’s Care. (Photos by Shelby Rae Wills/News21)

Activists unite to fight maternal mortality post-Roe

Black women are far more likely to die of pregnancy-related causes than white women across the U.S. In the South, activists and providers are working to overcome these disparities, which they worry will worsen amid abortion bans.

Shaquira Brooks sits on her bed at Mother’s Hope on June 28, 2023, in Birmingham, Alabama, surrounded by notebooks full of homework and exercises. This is her second stay at the facility, where people who are pregnant, who have children or who have recently given birth are treated for substance use. (Photo by Shelby Rae Wills/News21)

‘We are fighting for our lives’: Experts worry criminalization of pregnancy will rise post-Roe

Even before the reversal of Roe v. Wade last year, actions to criminalize behavior during pregnancy occurred across the country. Now, experts worry they’ll see far more cases.