FRANKFORT, Ky. — Last month, Kentucky Democrats announced the Kentucky Maternal and Infant Health Project: 21 bills related to care for families, mental health, and health equity.
What You Need To Know
- Kentucky Democrats announced the Kentucky Maternal and Infant Health Project last month
- With just days left for lawmakers to vote on the measures, only one of the bills has moved forward
- Under House Bill 294, new mothers would get information about the signs of postpartum depression, providers who treat it
- A bipartisan bill ending solitary confinement for incarcerated pregnant women has passed the Senate and House
"We all have a moral obligation to ensure better health outcomes for Kentuckians," said Rep. Lisa Willner (D, Louisville), who led the news conference.
With just days left for lawmakers to vote on the measures, only one of the bills has moved forward.
Under House Bill 294, which has bipartisan sponsors, new mothers would get information about the signs of postpartum depression and on providers who treat it.
"I’m really proud that a bill that I worked on has gained this bipartisan support and has made it through the House," said Rep. Rachel Roberts (D, Newport). "I wish that more of our Democratic bills were getting heard.”
Despite the Republican supermajority, Democrats will keep working on their priorities, Roberts said.
"The saying is, ‘The majority gets their way, and the minority gets their say,’ and so since we are in this minority, what we have is this amazing platform to really be champions for these issues that we care about,” she said.
A bipartisan bill ending solitary confinement for incarcerated pregnant women has passed the Senate and House, and Republican-sponsored House Bill 212, which says an annual report on child and maternal fatalities must include information on race, income, and geography, has passed the House.
Rep. Samara Heavrin (R, Leitchfield) is one of the sponsors.
"We do know that...race does play a huge outcome in health and there are real inequalities in our health care system," she said. "We already know, according to the CDC, that Black women experience maternal deaths at a rate of two to three times that of white women."
Having the data available will help lawmakers with future legislative proposals on maternal mortality, Heavrin said.
A similar bill from Rep. Attica Scott (D, Louisville) requires the establishment of child and maternal fatality review teams.
It has not been assigned a committee.