AUSTIN, Texas — Black women have the highest maternal mortality rates in the country and in Texas.
A statewide maternal mortality task force found black women in Texas died from pregnancy-related problems nearly 2.5 times higher than white women.
A CDC study released just this month showed black women were 3.3 times more likely than white women to die from a pregnancy-related issue.
Texas state representatives have filed several bills to help fix that and have filed bills also related to reproductive health.
Some of those bills are:
- House Bill 744
- House Bill 1374
- House Bill 2742
- House Bill 2703
- House Bill 1589
- House Bill 2618
State representative Shawn Thierry (D-Houston) and representative Toni Rose (D-Dallas) filed bills to extend Medicaid coverage for new mothers from six months to 12 months.
Representative Rose’s bill, HB 744, has not been referred. She said while that is discouraging, because Tuesday is the last day to hear Senate bills, “we will not stop.”
Thierry said she was able to add an amendment to a senate-sponsored bill that allocated funding for minority women to prevent maternal mortality.
“It passed,” said Thierry. “That’s just another way I want to make sure that the allocations of resources are done equitably, because that’s the only way we’re going to eliminate these disparities.”
Advocates with the Afiya Center, a nonprofit that serves black women, also add that even if the bills do not pass, they will keep fighting.
"There's still got to be some implicit bias training happening for medical students,” said Marsha Jones, executive director for the center. “We still have to work with community-based organizations so that we can insure these mama's voices are continuing to be heard.”
Jones adds the state's maternal mortality task force needs to be diversified with more community members and with mothers most at risk of dying during or after child birth.
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