by Mitti Hicks
April 23, 2026
Black girls are at the least 3 times extra prone to die from pregnancy-related causes than white girls.
Black lawmakers grilled Well being and Human Companies Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr on the impression that the Trump administration’s anti-DEI initiatives have had on Black maternal well being.
“Your company instructed applications to take away an inventory of practically 200 phrases and phrases from their funding purposes, together with the phrase ‘Black.’ Do you may have an thought of how we may resolve the Black maternal mortality disaster if we will’t say ‘Black’?” Rep. Summer time Lee (D-PA) requested Kennedy.
Lee’s trade with Kennedy was throughout Black Maternal Well being Week, which she famous..
“Secretary Kennedy, I’m positive you’re conscious that Black girls are at the least 3 times extra prone to die from pregnancy-related causes than white girls,” Lee stated. “The overwhelming majority of those deaths are preventable. Black girls in my district usually tend to die throughout being pregnant than their friends in 97% of U.S. cities.”
Kennedy acknowledged the disparity however then pivoted to discussing broader maternal well being and maintained that insurance policies ought to embrace “Blacks and whites.” He additionally claimed that the present administration has made extra enhancements than its predecessors.
Lee wasn’t the one one who grilled Kennedy over his statements or priorities.
Rep. Robin Kelly (D-IL) lately criticized the well being secretary on price range cuts on Tuesday throughout an Power and Commerce Well being Subcommittee listening to. Kennedy refused to acknowledge the $900 billion lower to Medicaid within the GOP-backed One Massive Lovely Invoice Act that President Donald Trump signed into legislation on July 5, 2025.
“The American individuals are not falling for what you’re saying,” Kelly instructed Kennedy. “Your assaults on minority well being, girls’s well being, LGBTQ+ well being, and fundamental preventative drugs by means of unlawful funding freezes and mass firings will result in many years of penalties for all Individuals. You might have failed at your job and failed the American individuals.”
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