White House is mute on Black maternal mortality crisis with new maternal health rollout

“An administration that refuses to even acknowledge the Black maternal mortality crisis has no business pretending it cares about mothers,” U.S. Rep. Summer Lee, D-Pa., told theGrio.

The White House announced actions to address maternal health issues facing millions of American women; however, it failed to acknowledge the Black maternal mortality crisis, as Black women continue to die of childbirth or pregnancy complications at disproportionate levels.

On Monday, the Trump administration launched the government website, Moms.gov, dedicated to providing “Resources, Information, and Help for New and Expecting Mothers.” In the Oval Office, President Donald Trump held a press conference with administration officials and Republican lawmakers to spotlight actions taken to “lower costs for families, expand access to fertility care, and deliver meaningful support for mothers across America.”

“It’s a big deal,” said Trump, who said the Labor Department issued a “new rule” for employers to offer employees fertility treatment options through their health insurance plans. The agency says the proposals seek to establish a “new regulatory pathway.” The president also said the administration was enacting “child care reforms” for Head Start and the Child Care and Development Fund.

The issue of maternal mortality was also spotlighted during Monday’s Oval press conference. Dr. Mehmet Oz, the administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), noted that in rural America, the maternal mortality rate is 30% higher than in urban areas.

“Your zip code should not determine your mortality rate if you’re having a baby. That’s going to change,” said the Trump official.

What was noticeably missing from the Monday rollout for moms is the national crisis facing Black women giving birth. As highlighted by several high-profile cases like Dr. Janell Green Smith and Kiara Brokenbrough, Black women have a maternal mortality rate that is three to nearly four times higher than that of their white, Hispanic and Asian counterparts. According to the CDC, the maternal mortality rate for Black women was 50.3 deaths per 100,000 live births and was significantly higher than rates for White (14.5), Hispanic (12.4), and Asian (10.7) women.

“An administration that refuses to even acknowledge the Black maternal mortality crisis has no business pretending it cares about mothers,” U.S. Rep. Summer Lee, D-Pa., told theGrio in reaction to the White House’s Moms.gov rollout.

The congresswoman noted that her district in Pittsburgh has “some of the highest maternal death rates in the country, with Black women dying at rates two to three times higher than white women.”

“Instead of addressing those systemic failures with urgency, the Trump administration has made it a priority to end diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility programs, cancel research, cut Medicaid and SNAP, attack child care, threaten reproductive healthcare, and propose cuts to life-saving programs like Healthy Start,” said Rep. Lee.

Lee previously called out the Trump administration for its inability to address the Black maternal mortality crisis during a House of Representatives Committee hearing while questioning Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. The congresswoman highlighted that HHS, as part of President Trump’s directive to eliminate DEI across the federal government, had programs remove a list of nearly 200 words and phrases from their funding applications, including the word “Black.”

“If you attack DEI and then we have a crisis that impacts one population over another, but you cannot direct specific spending or research or interventions to that population, hw do you solve the problem?” Lee queried.

TheGrio reached out to the White House inquiring about whether President Trump plans to roll out targeted policy or investment to address the racial disparities in maternal health that are resulting in deadly outcomes for Black women. The White House did not immediately respond to theGrio’s request for comment.

“We cannot solve the crisis if we cannot say Black or direct specific spending, research, or interventions to target the issue,” U.S. Rep. Lee told theGrio. “We can improve health outcomes for everybody while also helping the people most likely to die.“