Why Harris’ Black Maternal Health Plan Must Evolve to Actually Help Families

It would be false to say President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris have not given the Black maternal health crisis any attention during their four years in office. But the question remains: Why are Black birthing people and their infants still in a health “crisis” at all? As Harris leverages the support she needs for her presidential campaign—including Black women’s organizing prowess—she must seize on the opportunity to expand her approach to Black maternal health away from funding institutions and toward funding families. In the weeks since the launch of her presidential campaign, Harris’ team has mobilized her large networks of Black women to get people registered to vote. Her speeches to large crowds of Black women voters have regularly mentioned Black maternal mortality. In 2021, she helped mark the inaugural White House Maternal Health Day of Action. As senator, Harris wrote in a column for Essence about helping to introduce the Black Maternal Health Momnibus: “Black women can’t afford not to be heard when their lives and babies are on the line.” Since the 2020 election, the administration’s work on Black maternal health has focused on people with Medicaid and those seeking hospital births. It has incentivized...