Washington, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ), Former CMS Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure, and Dr. Ala Stanford joined Protect Our Care to spotlight the importance of the Momnibus as Donald Trump and Republicans’ health care cuts plunge our country further into a maternity care crisis.
The press call is part of Protect Our Care’s nationwide “Sick of it! Fix Health Care Now” campaign, which is giving voice to the millions of Americans rightfully sick of Trump and Republicans in Congress gutting our health care system to bankroll tax breaks for billionaires and big corporations. It also comes as Senator Booker reintroduces the Momnibus in the Senate, as a companion to the House of Representatives bill introduced by Reps. Lauren Underwood (D-IL-14) and Alma Adams (D-NC-12).
“If we say we love our country, we love our children, we love families, then this bill should be a unifying call for Americans,” said U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ). “In this coming election, in less than 90 days, we have a transformative opportunity in the legislature. We can put these bills on the president’s desk and dare him not to stand up for women, dare him not to stand up for access, dare him to not stand up for health care. And if he doesn’t, there will be consequences in the next election. So we are going to get this done because every day that we don’t act, more women suffer.”
“This crisis affects all of us,” said Chiquita Brooks-LaSure, Former Administrator, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. “Even before H.R.1, many hospitals, particularly those in rural and underserved areas, were struggling to keep their doors open. Now, we’re starting to see hospitals close their doors entirely or close their labor and delivery units. That’s just one example of how whether you’re personally enrolled in Medicaid or ACA coverage or not, you will still feel the consequences. And now you have to drive an extra 45 minutes to deliver a baby, which we all know can be the difference between life and death.”
“When facilities close and mother can’t get prenatal care, no one catches that elevated blood pressure. It goes undiagnosed until her kidneys start to shut down and that baby has to come out early. That’s where I come in,” said Dr. Ala Stanford, Pediatric Surgeon, Founder of the Black Doctors Consortium and the Ala Stanford Center for Health Equity and Former U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Regional Director. “I’m the one performing lifesaving surgery on a one-pound infant. And sometimes, after the mother goes home, she develops an infection and has nowhere to go. That’s where some of those postpartum deaths are happening.”
“The health care crisis is already here,” said Joi Chaney, Policy and Health Equity Senior Advisor, Protect Our Care. “As of July 1, more than 80 hospital wards, more than 50 maternity care providers, and nearly 320 clinics have closed. These Republican cuts come as the United States has the highest maternal mortality rate among high-income nations. Black women are more than three times as likely as white women to die from pregnancy-related complications, even though more than 80 percent of pregnancy-related deaths are preventable. Americans are sick of it. We should be investing in moms and families—not dismantling their care.”