Remarks as Prepared for Delivery by Director Jennifer Klein at the Congressional Mamas Caucus

It is a pleasure to join you today to celebrate the launch of the Congressional Mamas’ Caucus.

Over the past two years, in the face of extraordinary challenges, mothers have done what they always have – carried their families, communities, and our Nation with tremendous courage and conviction. Yet moms continue to face unique and compounding barriers to their full participation in economic, civic, and social life.

Under President Biden and Vice President Harris’s leadership, we have made historic strides to eliminate barriers and advance equity for moms, including through the American Rescue Plan, which made historic investments in child care, helping thousands of child care providers keep their doors open, and enhanced the Child Tax Credit, leading to record low child poverty rates and helping to reduce food insufficiency among low-income families by 25 percent. 

The President also remains committed to championing the issues that make a difference for moms and their families – from investing in child care, elder care, and home health care services to fighting for a national paid family and medical leave program.

Here at the Gender Policy Council, we are focused on a number of issues, including addressing the discrimination and structural barriers that have hampered women, especially women of color, from fully participating in the labor force and from being paid and treated equitably when they do.

We are also working around the clock on our response to the Supreme Court decision in Dobbs last month, which overturned Roe v. Wade and eliminated the constitutional right to abortion. Earlier this month, President Biden signed an Executive Order that:

• Safeguards access to reproductive healthcare, including abortion and contraception;
• Promotes the safety and security of patients, providers, and clinics; and
• Protects patient privacy, as well as access to accurate information.

I know all of the reproductive justice advocates in this room know that Congressional action is needed to codify the right to abortion at the national level; in the meantime, we will keep doing everything we can to defend reproductive rights and protect access to healthcare. 

We are also deeply committed to addressing the maternal health crisis, which disproportionately impacts Black women and Native women. Since taking office, the Biden-Harris Administration, led by Vice President Harris, has taken significant steps to close these disparities, including by: Extending Postpartum Medicaid Coverage, Announcing the New “Birthing Friendly” Hospitals Initiative, and Leading the White House’s First-Ever Maternal Health Day of Action.

Just this week, the Department of Health and Human Services announced three historic steps to support the implementation of the Administration’s Blueprint for Addressing the Maternal Health Crisis, which is the first-ever whole-of-government approach to combat maternal mortality and morbidity and which we released last month.

First, The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) unveiled its Maternity Care Action Plan which aims to take a holistic and coordinated approach across CMS to improve health outcomes and reduce inequities for people during pregnancy, childbirth, and the postpartum period.

Second, CMS approved the extension of Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) coverage for 12 months after pregnancy in Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Kansas. As a result, up to an additional 19,000 people annually will now have access to Medicaid or CHIP coverage for a full year after pregnancy. 

And finally the Department of Health and Human Services reaffirmed its commitment to ensuring the availability of quality health care before, during, and after pregnancy by investing $8.5 million in initiatives designed to reduce pregnancy-related deaths and complications that disproportionately impact underserved populations and those living in rural areas.

With that, I look forward to continuing to work together to honor the contributions of mothers to our homes, workplaces, and economies as we build an economy that lifts everyone up – especially those all-too-often left behind.