Maternal health justice is a racial justice issue and a matter of life and death.

I never had the blessing of meeting my paternal grandmother.

My grandma Carrie died in the 1950s giving birth to my father’s youngest brother, my uncle Jerome, sending my father and his five siblings into a tailspin that took generations to recover from.

Decades later, the Black maternal morbidity crisis in America is still killing our loved ones and destabilizing our families.

Maternal health justice is a matter of life and death, and one that is deeply personal to me. So I was proud to take a step towards making quality, comprehensive reproductive care a reality for all by re-introducing the Maximizing Outcomes for Moms through Medicaid Improvement and Enhancement of Services (MOMMIES) Act alongside Senator Cory Booker. This legislation would improve maternal health outcomes, reverse the trend of rising maternal mortality rates, and close disparities that put Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) communities and their kids at greater risk.

We must act now to address this maternal morbidity crisis and make comprehensive reproductive care a reality for all. Please add your name as a grassroots co-sponsor of the MOMMIES Act.

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A safe pregnancy should be a right, not a privilege, and every person should be able to experience their pregnancy without worrying if they will survive delivery or make it to their child’s first birthday.

Maternal health justice is a racial justice issue: Black women are more than three times as likely to die from pregnancy-related causes as white women, deepening the pain and trauma felt by Black families. We must take action to fight for maternal health justice.

Here are just a few of the ways the MOMMIES Act would help combat this crisis specifically:

• Extending Medicaid coverage for postpartum people to a full year after giving birth from the current limit of 60 days;
• Ensuring that all pregnant and postpartum people have full Medicaid coverage;
• Extending the Affordable Care Act’s primary care bump to ensure that Medicaid beneficiaries have access to primary care providers, including reproductive health providers; and
• Facilitating increased access to doula support.

With the Supreme Court’s cruel Dobbs decision only exacerbating this crisis, Congress must pass our bill to promote community-based, holistic approaches to maternity and postpartum care so that every pregnant person is treated with the dignity and respect they deserve during and after their pregnancy.

Maternal health justice is a racial justice issue and a matter of life and death, and we must make comprehensive, culturally-congruent reproductive care a reality for all. If you agree, become a co-sponsor of this critical legislation by adding your name today.

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Yours in service,

Ayanna