Today, during Black Maternal Health Week, Vice President Kamala Harris convened a high-level meeting with Cabinet officials to address maternal mortality and morbidity in the United States.
Addressing the issue of maternal morbidity and mortality is “about treating a woman as a whole human being,” Harris said.
She added that 12 states are working with CMS to expand Medicaid coverage from 2 months to 12 months post-partum and that the administration is announcing a new designation of birthing-friendly hospitals and health care providers.
Harris said president Biden told her today that the meeting of cabinet officials on this topic is “good stuff.”
“I was with the president this morning in the Oval Office, talking about many matters and many issues, and he said, ‘Hey, the cabinet’s coming together today on this issue. This is good stuff,'” Harris said.
Harris concluded her remarks at 2:22 pm after briefly addressing the shooting at the NYC subway yesterday. She praised the heroism of New Yorkers, law enforcement officials, and first responders.
“I applaud all of the law enforcement officials, the first responders, and the New Yorkers. The civilians who were showing such heroism yesterday, such concern for their fellow person. And we will see what comes next in terms of the investigation and consequences for what happened yesterday. There’s no question it was tragic, but it also did demonstrate the incredible work that is being done by first responders, by law enforcement officials, and by the community, in this case New Yorkers,” said Harris.