| |
| |
|
|
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 April 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 April 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. |