Maternal Care Access and Reducing Emergencies (CARE) Act
Lift Louisiana supports the Maternal Care Access and Reducing Emergencies (CARE) Act which was introduced in United States Senate this week.
This legislation would compel the National Academy of Medicine to make recommendations for how medical schools can test for implicit bias in the clinical skills exams taken by prospective students. It would also create grant programs to fund health professional training programs to address bias and help states implement pregnancy medical home programs. The programs could screen pregnant women for risk factors before they give birth and help match them with appropriate resources.
The rate of women dying in childbirth in the United States more than doubled from 1990 to 2013, and Black women are dying at rates almost four times higher than White women. Poverty, persistent disparities in sexual and reproductive healthcare and lack of health insurance are major factors contributing to maternal mortality, all of which have a disparate impact on communities of color.
Louisiana’s maternal mortality rate has increased since 2016, from 35 per 100,000 births to 44.8—more than double the national average. For black women the rate is even higher – 72.6 per 100,000 births. Before, during, and after pregnancy, every woman needs access to quality health services and information and to the social and economic resources that will help her be as healthy as possible.
Read Reproductive Injustice: Racial and Gender Discrimination in U.S. Health
