86R4477 BK-D
By: Thierry H.C.R. No. 18
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, Maternal health is a vital concern to any society
with an interest in the present and future well-being of women,
children, and families, and Maternal Health Month in August serves
as a time to call attention to and mobilize action to address
maternal health disparities and inequities; and
WHEREAS, Defined by the World Health Organization as the
health of women during pregnancy, childbirth, and the postpartum
period, maternal health is a human rights issue with serious and
far-reaching implications for every individual, community, and
country; and
WHEREAS, The United States has the highest rate of maternal
mortality among all developed nations, and that rate is continuing
to rise, even as the rest of the developed world is seeing fewer and
fewer deaths from pregnancy-related complications; several factors
have been cited as contributing to the heightened risk of death for
American mothers, including inadequate state and federal funding
for maternal health as well as inefficient hospital protocols for
dealing with maternal emergencies; and
WHEREAS, Black women in the U.S. are more likely to suffer
from severe maternal morbidity than any other demographic group;
according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,
African American mothers die at three to four times the rate of
white mothers, and this extreme disparity in maternal mortality
holds true across all income and education levels; and
WHEREAS, The fair distribution of resources, especially with
regard to reproductive health care services and maternal health
programming, is critical to closing the racial gap in maternal
health outcomes; a greater investment must be made in women's
maternity care and in policies that support and promote affordable,
comprehensive, holistic, and equitable maternal health care; and
WHEREAS, By spreading awareness of this crucial issue, health
professionals and concerned Texans alike are working to make
maternal health a more urgent priority for our state, to bring an
end to preventable maternal mortality, and to ensure a higher
standard of care for Texas mothers; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That the 86th Legislature of the State of Texas
hereby designate August as Maternal Health Month; and, be it
further
RESOLVED, That in accordance with the provisions of Section
391.004(d), Government Code, this designation remain in effect
until the 10th anniversary of the date this resolution is finally
passed by the legislature.