[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 72 (Friday, April 16, 2021)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 20023-20024]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-08008]


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  Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 72 / Friday, April 16, 2021 / 
Presidential Documents  

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 Title 3--
 The President

[[Page 20023]]

                Proclamation 10178 of April 13, 2021

                
Black Maternal Health Week, 2021

                By the President of the United States of America

                A Proclamation

                In the United States of America, a person's race should 
                never determine their health outcomes, and pregnancy 
                and childbirth should be safe for all. However, for far 
                too many Black women, safety and equity have been 
                tragically denied. America's maternal mortality rates 
                are among the highest in the developed world, and they 
                are especially high among Black mothers, who die from 
                complications related to pregnancy at roughly two to 
                three times the rate of white, Hispanic, Asian 
                American, and Pacific Islander women--regardless of 
                their income or education levels. This week, I call on 
                all Americans to recognize the importance of addressing 
                the crisis of Black maternal mortality and morbidity in 
                this country.

                Ensuring that all women have equitable access to health 
                care before, during, and after pregnancy is essential. 
                The Biden-Harris Administration is committed to 
                addressing these unacceptable disparities, and to 
                building a health care system that delivers equity and 
                dignity to Black, Indigenous, and other women and girls 
                of color.

                Health care is a right, not a privilege, and our 
                country needs a health care system that works for all 
                of us. That is something both Vice President Harris and 
                I have fought for throughout our careers. As a Senator, 
                Vice President Harris was a champion of Black maternal 
                health, introducing legislation to close gaps in access 
                to quality maternal care and educate providers about 
                implicit bias. And during my time as Vice President, I 
                fought for the Affordable Care Act and to strengthen 
                Medicaid, both of which ensure access to critical 
                services to support maternal health. Within just a few 
                years of the Affordable Care Act's passage, Black 
                uninsured rates dramatically declined--a key factor in 
                ensuring better maternal health outcomes--as did the 
                persistent health insurance coverage gap between Black 
                and white Americans, which fell by more than 40 percent 
                in the wake of the law's implementation.

                As we fight to bring an end to the COVID-19 crisis, we 
                will continue to make quality health care more 
                accessible and affordable for all Americans, as we did 
                through the passage of the landmark American Rescue 
                Plan. We will also work to ensure that everyone--
                including hospitals, insurance plans, and health care 
                providers--do their part to provide every American with 
                quality, affordable, and equitable care.

                Vice President Harris and I are committed to pursuing 
                systemic policies that provide comprehensive, holistic 
                maternal health care that is free from bias and 
                discrimination. The morbidity and mortality disparities 
                that Black mothers face are not the results of isolated 
                incidents. Our Nation must root out systemic racism 
                everywhere it exists, including by addressing unequal 
                social determinants of health that often contribute to 
                racial disparities such as adequate nutrition and 
                housing, toxin-free environments, high-paying job 
                sectors that provide paid leave, and workplaces free of 
                harassment and discrimination.

                Addressing systemic barriers across the board will 
                improve outcomes for Black mothers and their families, 
                and make our entire country stronger, healthier, and 
                more prosperous. At the same time, the United States 
                must

[[Page 20024]]

                also grow and diversify the perinatal workforce, 
                improve how we collect data to better understand the 
                causes of maternal death and complications from birth, 
                and invest in community-based organizations to help 
                reduce the glaring racial and ethnic disparities that 
                persist in our health care system.

                NOW, THEREFORE, I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., President of 
                the United States of America, by virtue of the 
                authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws 
                of the United States, do hereby proclaim April 11 
                through April 17, 2021, as Black Maternal Health Week. 
                I call upon all Americans to raise awareness of the 
                state of Black maternal health in the United States by 
                understanding the consequences of systemic 
                discrimination, recognizing the scope of this problem 
                and the need for urgent solutions, amplifying the 
                voices and experiences of Black women, families, and 
                communities, and committing to building a world in 
                which Black women do not have to fear for their safety, 
                their wellbeing, their dignity, and their lives before, 
                during, and after pregnancy.

                IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this 
                thirteenth day of April, in the year of our Lord two 
                thousand twenty-one, and of the Independence of the 
                United States of America the two hundred and forty-
                fifth.
                
                
                    (Presidential Sig.)

[FR Doc. 2021-08008
Filed 4-15-21; 8:45 am]
Billing code 3295-F1-P