[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 78 (Friday, May 10, 2019)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E576]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      BLACK MATERNAL HEALTH CAUCUS

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                               speech of

                         HON. DONNA E. SHALALA

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, May 9, 2019

  Ms. SHALALA. Madam Speaker, the United States holds the worst 
maternal mortality rate of any country in the developed world: every 
year, approximately 700 women die from pregnancy-related complications.
  This rate is three times as high as Canada's and six times as high as 
Scandinavia's.
  In Great Britain, a man is more likely to die while his partner is 
pregnant than she is.
  In the United States, however, a woman today is 50 percent more 
likely to die in childbirth than her own mother was.
  And the biggest risk factor in dying from childbirth is being black.
  A recent CDC study found that 60 percent of pregnancy-related deaths 
in recent years could have been prevented.
  Title X family planning clinics play a key role in preventing these 
deaths by helping women avoid and terminate unwanted pregnancies.
  Given the particular danger of pregnancy, this care saves women's 
lives.
  However, the administration's proposed gag rule would bar Title X 
providers from offering comprehensive reproductive healthcare.
  If this rule goes into effect, maternal mortality rates will rise.
  Racial disparities in healthcare will worsen.
  And more families will be needlessly ripped apart.

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