|
|
|
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 the observance of Black Maternal Health |
|
Week from April 11 through 17 focuses attention to the disparities |
|
and inequities in maternal health for Black women; and |
|
WHEREAS, Created by the Black Mamas Matter Alliance, Black |
|
Maternal Health Week serves to amplify the voices of Black mothers |
|
as well as the values and traditions of the reproductive justice and |
|
birth justice movements; 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 |
|
deaths from pregnancy-related complications; several factors have |
|
been cited as contributing to the heightened risk of death for |
|
American women, including inadequate state and federal funding for |
|
maternal health as well as inefficient hospital protocols for |
|
dealing with maternal emergencies; and |
|
WHEREAS, Black mothers in the U.S. have been |
|
disproportionately affected by severe maternal morbidity compared |
|
with other demographic groups; according to the Centers for Disease |
|
Control and Prevention, African American mothers die at three times |
|
the rate of White mothers; the fair distribution of reproductive |
|
health care services and maternal health programming is critical to |
|
closing the racial gap in maternal health outcomes, and a greater |
|
investment must be made in Black 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 other concerned Texans are working to make |
|
maternal health for Black women a more urgent priority, to bring an |
|
end to preventable maternal mortality, and to ensure a higher |
|
standard of care for Black mothers in the Lone Star State; now, |
|
therefore, be it |
|
RESOLVED, That the 87th Legislature of the State of Texas |
|
hereby designate April 11 through 17 as Black Maternal Health Week; |
|
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. |