Bill Text: TX HCR18 | 2019-2020 | 86th Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: Designating August as Maternal Health Month for a 10-year period beginning in 2019.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2019-02-25 - Referred to Public Health [HCR18 Detail]
Download: Texas-2019-HCR18-Introduced.html
| 86R4477 BK-D | ||
| By: Thierry | H.C.R. No. 18 | |
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| 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. | ||
