2 Health Biden issues proclamation for Black Maternal health week

In 2022, Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra implemented actions to improve maternal health and reduce health disparities, and this year, the Biden-Harris administration has continued to champion policies to improve maternal health and equity.

Vice President Kamala Harris convened a meeting with Becerra and other Cabinet leaders amplifying a whole-of-government approach to reducing maternal mortality and morbidity.

On Monday, President Biden issued another proclamation to begin Black Maternal Health Week.

The president called the week a reminder that so many families experience pain, neglect, and loss during what should be a joyous occasion.

Biden called it urgent that all act.

“Black women in America are three times more likely to die from pregnancyrelated complications than white women,” the president remarked. “This is on top of the fact that women in America are dying at a higher rate from pregnancy-related causes than in any other developed nation.”

He insisted that tackling the crisis begins with understanding how institutional racism drives these high maternal mortality rates.

Studies show that Black women are often dismissed or ignored in hospitals and other health care settings, even as they suffer from severe injuries and pregnancy complications and ask for help, the president reminded.

He said systemic inequities are also to blame.

“When mothers do not have access to safe and stable housing before and after childbirth, they are at greater risk as deputy caucus chair.

“She’s not gonna stop using her voice,” Jayapal said. “She’ll continue to use her voice on foreign affairs issues.

Just kicking her off a committee is not going to silence her.

“The more time I’ve spent with her the more I’ve come to appreciate her perspective, the more I’ve come to realize how important her voice is to represent not just our community in Minnesota, not just in our country but many around the world,” Rep. Dean Phillips, D-Minn., another Jewish member of Congress.

“It’s not about agreeing. This building was not built for agreement. It was built to manage disagreement. And I’d like to think that she and I can be the perfect example of that.”

Omar began to move up the ranks in the Congressional Progressive Caucus — one of the largest ideological caucuses in the House. She become the vote counter for the caucus chair, Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., in the last Congress as progressives helped pave the way for Biden’s agenda to pass the House and Senate.

In January, Omar was chosen by more than 100 members to serve

Griner

From 3 imprisoned in Russia on spying charges. Around the time Griner was released, Whelan criticized the U.S. government for not doing enough to help him.

Russia has been a popular playing destination for top WNBA athletes in the offseason, with some earning salaries over $1 million — nearly quadruple what they can make as a base WNBA salary. Despite pleading guilty to possessing canisters with cannabis oil, a result of what she said was hasty packing, Griner still faced trial under Russian law. Griner’s memoir

She’s way too strong for that.”

Omar, who was born in Somalia, is now embarking on a new chapter “as a minority, in the minority,” helping Biden and the Democratic Party provide a split screen to Republican control by highlighting the implementation of several legislative achievements made in the past two years, including the infrastructure law.

“Being taken off the committee is not a pleasant experience. But I think she’s gonna turn it into a real blessing,” said Rep. Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., who was an early supporter of Omar and is a member of the House Democratic leadership team.

Omar is also chairing a newly formed Africa policy working group, where she and more than a dozen House Democrats will focus on issues concerning the continent.

“We don’t agree on everything,” said Rep. Sara Jacobs, one of the group’s is currently untitled and will eventually be published in a young adult edition. Financial terms were not disclosed.

In Tuesday’s press statement, Knopf said that the book would be “intimate and moving” and that Griner would disclose “in vivid detail her harrowing experience of her wrongful detainment (as classified by the State Department) and the difficulty of navigating the byzantine Russian legal system in a language she did not speak.”

“Griner also describes her stark and surreal time living in a foreign prison and the terrifying aspects of day-to-day life in a women’s penal colony,” the announcement reads. “At the heart of the book, Griner of falling ill,” Biden said. “When women face barriers traveling to the hospital for prenatal and postpartum checkups, they are less likely to remain healthy. Air pollution, water pollution, and lead pipes can have dangerous consequences for pregnant women and newborns. And when families cannot afford nutritious foods, they face worse health outcomes.”

He claimed his administration has penned the blueprint for addressing the maternal health crisis, an agenda that lays out specific actions the federal government would take to improve maternal health and secured funding from Congress to help implement it.

“Vice President Kamala Harris has been a leader on the issue of maternal mortality for years and led the charge to improve maternal health outcomes, including by issuing a call to action to address disparities in maternal care,” Biden stated. “She continues members. “But we share a similar worldview, especially when it comes to the African continent, where we’re both really focused on U.S. engagement, not leading with our military, but actually leading with diplomacy and centering our values on human rights and promoting good governance.”

While many voiced concerns that her removal from the House Foreign Affairs Committee would effectively silence her on foreign policy, Omar said Republicans badly miscalculated, given that she was assigned to the House Budget Committee as a replacement.

“This is why I joke about the fact that Republicans taking me off the Foreign Affairs Committee essentially meant that they were promoting me,” Omar said.

“Because we will have the opportunity not only to address investments in regards to our foreign policy with development, defense, and diplomacy, but we will also be able to have more of a say as part as the discussions move forward in regards to our own defense budget.” highlights the personal turmoil she experienced during the near ten-month ordeal and the resilience that carried her through to the day of her return to the United States last December.” to elevate the issue nationally, convening State legislators, medical professionals, and others so all mothers can access the care they need before, during, and after childbirth.

Griner, 32, is a 6-foot-9 two-time Olympic gold medalist, three-time AllAmerican at Baylor University, a prominent advocate for pay equity for women athletes and the first openly gay athlete to reach an endorsement deal with Nike. She is the author of one previous book, “In My Skin: My Life On and Off the Basketball Court,” published in 2014.

In February, she resigned with the Mercury and will play in its upcoming season, which runs from May through September.

“The president continued: “Additionally, my American Rescue Plan gave States the option to provide a full year of postpartum coverage to Medicaid beneficiaries — up from just 60 days of coverage,” he said. Biden explained his administration has approved requests from Washington, D.C., and 30 states to offer women Medicare coverage and a full year of postpartum coverage.

“We have made this option permanent for every State that extends Medicaid postpartum coverage,” he said.“My administration has helped facilitate Medicaid expansion in four States since I took office, and I continue to call on the Congress to close the Medicaid coverage gap.”

The president also emphasized the importance of diversifying the workforce.

“We are also working to expand and diversify the maternal health workforce, helping health care providers hire and train diverse and culturally competent physicians, certified nurse midwives, doulas, and community health workers to support women during pregnancy, delivery, and postpartum care.”

Biden’s budget includes $471 million to reduce maternal mortality and morbidity rates, improving access to care in rural communities, expanding implicit bias training for health care providers, and further supporting the perinatal health workforce.

“This week, as we continue our work to make pregnancy and childbirth safe, dignified, and joyful for all, let us remember that health care should be a right and not a privilege,” Biden continued.

“Let us give thanks to the extraordinary maternal health care workforce, which serves its patients and their families every day. And let us join in common cause to end the tragedy of maternal mortality once and for all.” This article originally appeared in The Washington Informer.