CLARKE, COLLEAGUES DEMAND SECRETARY KENNEDY TO ADDRESS THE BLACK MATERNAL HEALTH CRISIS

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

December 18, 2025

MEDIA CONTACT:

e: [email protected]

c: 202.913.0126

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Representatives Yvette D. Clarke (NY-09) and Robin Kelly (IL-02) led a letter signed by 49 of their colleagues to Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services demanding immediate action to address the Black maternal health crisis, which has only grown more severe under the second Trump Administration:

"No woman in this country should face preventable harm while giving birth, yet the evidence shows that Black mothers face disproportionate, avoidable, and increasingly heightened risks. We demand that the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) investigate these failures and outline the steps it will take to ensure that hospitals provide safe, timely, and equitable care to all patients. In the United States, Black women die from pregnancy-related causes at more than three times the rate of white women. This stark disparity persists across income, education, insurance status, and geography-reflecting longstanding inequities in access, treatment, and responsiveness within maternal health care that warrant serious federal attention and oversight." The Members continued, "Black women deserve to enter labor and delivery units with confidence that their symptoms will be taken seriously and that their care will align with established medical standards. The maternal health crisis facing Black women demands urgent attention, stronger oversight, and meaningful accountability throughout the health care system."

The letter was signed by 51 Members of Congress: Becca Balint, Nanette Barragán, Joyce Beatty, Wesley Bell, Shontel Brown, Nikki Budzinski, André Carson, Kathy Castor, Joaquin Castro, Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, Yvette D. Clarke, Herbert Conaway, Jasmine Crockett, Madeleine Dean, Suzan DelBene, Veronica Escobar, Dwight Evans, Valerie Foushee, Maxwell Frost, Steven Horsford, Sydney Kamlager-Dove, Robin Kelly, Raja Krishnamoorthi, Summer Lee, Doris Matsui, Lucy McBath, Sarah McBride, April McClain Delaney, LaMonica McIver, Gregory Meeks, Gwen Moore, Kelly Morrison, Eleanor Norton, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Stacey Plaskett, Ayanna Pressley, Delia Ramirez, Deborah Ross, Andrea Salinas, Janice Schakowsky, Terri Sewell, Lateefah Simon, Marilyn Strickland, Bennie Thompson, Rashida Tlaib, Paul Tonko, Ritchie Torres, Nydia Velázquez, Bonnie Watson Coleman, Nikema Williams, and Frederica Wilson.

Full text of the letter can be found HERE.

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