A resolution supporting the designation of the week of April 11 through April 17, 2025, as the eighth annual "Black Maternal Health Week", founded by Black Mamas Matter Alliance, Inc., to bring national attention to the maternal and reproductive health crisis in the United States and the importance of reducing maternal mortality and morbidity among Black women and birthing people.
S. Res. 172 is a Senate resolution supporting the designation of April 11 through April 17, 2025, as the eighth annual Black Maternal Health Week. The resolution is largely declaratory: it recognizes the severe maternal and reproductive health crisis in the United States, with a particular focus on the disproportionately high rates of maternal mortality and morbidity experienced by Black women and birthing people. It cites CDC data, preventable pregnancy-related deaths, disparities in outcomes, and the role of structural racism, discrimination, and social determinants of health in driving those disparities.
The resolution also frames Black Maternal Health Week as a platform to elevate community-led solutions, Black-led organizations, and policy efforts centered on reproductive justice, birth justice, and human rights. It specifically calls attention to the need for better prenatal, postpartum, mental health, and reproductive care; improved access to insurance coverage through the postpartum period; and support for Black midwives, doulas, perinatal workers, and community-based providers. It further urges Congress to support broader policy changes, including the Black Maternal Health Momnibus Act and related measures aimed at improving maternal outcomes.
Because this is a resolution rather than a bill, it does not directly amend federal or state statutes or create enforceable legal rights. Its practical effect is to formally express the Senate’s support for Black Maternal Health Week and to place the issue of Black maternal health on the congressional record. The resolution may influence public policy debate, encourage federal attention and funding priorities, and support advocacy for legislation affecting maternal health care, reproductive health services, postpartum coverage, and related social determinants of health.
The overall sentiment reflected in the text is strongly supportive and urgent. The resolution presents Black maternal mortality and morbidity as a public health and civil rights crisis requiring immediate attention, and it emphasizes the importance of community-driven, Black-led, and equity-focused solutions. There is no recorded vote or committee debate in the provided materials, so the available context shows broad sponsorship and a consensus-oriented, commemorative posture rather than visible partisan division.
No formal contention appears in the provided voting or committee record, but the resolution itself identifies the main policy fault lines. It criticizes systemic racism, reproductive oppression, low Medicaid reimbursement, maternity care deserts, workplace discrimination, criminalization of pregnancy outcomes, and barriers faced by Black midwives and doulas. It also references the overturning of Roe v. Wade as worsening reproductive autonomy concerns. The resolution’s call for decriminalization, expanded reproductive care, postpartum coverage, and investment in Black-led care models suggests that disagreements, if any, would likely center on abortion-related policy, health care funding, criminal justice reform, and the scope of government intervention in maternal health.