NLIRH Applauds Passage of Ground-Breaking Maternal Deaths Bill

Washington, D.C.— Yesterday the Senate passed H.R. 1318, The Preventing Maternal Deaths Act.  When signed into law, this groundbreaking legislation will establish a grant program through the CDC to enable all states to set up task forces to study the causes of maternal mortality and to help standardize maternal death data.  

Nina Esperanza Serrianne, policy analyst at the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health, issued the following statement:

“The passage of the Preventing Maternal Deaths Act is a critical step forward in supporting state maternal mortality review committees and reducing the maternal death rate of women of color in this country. According to a recent study, Hispanic women in Texas make up 31 percent of maternal deaths in the state and account for nearly half of all births in Texas. Due to no uniform system of data collection, these numbers only give us a small window into this health care crisis for Latinas.  The patchwork of U.S. maternal death reporting requirements prevents us from having a clearer picture of Latinx data and a way to evaluate the needs of the community. More women, disproportionately women of color, in the United States die from pregnancy complications than in any other developed country. This is unacceptable. NLIRH applauds this action by Congress to directly addresses this devastating mater.”

For more information on NLIRH’s fight for health, dignity and justice, visit us at latinainstitute.org or follow us on Facebook and Twitter @NLIRH.

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The National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health is the only national reproductive justice organization dedicated to building Latina power to advance health, dignity, and justice for 28 million Latinas, their families, and communities in the United States through leadership development, community mobilization, policy advocacy, and strategic communications.