Advocates Warn Proposed Medicaid Cuts Will Worsen Maternal Mortality Crisis for Black Women

Proposed federal budget cuts could jeopardize the lives of millions of pregnant Black women, deepening the maternal mortality crisis and racial disparities, advocates warn.

Last month’s House resolution suggested slashing Medicaid by up to $880 billion over ten years, with Medicare cuts likely to follow.

“We often see these cuts as: We’re making sure that people who ‘don’t deserve’ these programs are not getting it. But in actuality, it’s disproportionately going to impact people of color, women of color,” said Rolonda Donelson, legal fellow at the National Partnership for Women & Families.

Medicaid covers 40% of U.S. births, and over 64% of births among Black women. Yet Black women are still three times more likely to die from pregnancy-related complications like preeclampsia or postpartum hemorrhage, 80% of which are preventable, per the CDC.

Natasha Ewell relied on Medicaid to safely deliver her son after losing her job during a high-risk pregnancy. “It was very important for me to have that insurance,” she said. “I cannot imagine not having my son here. Who are they to make me have that choice?”

Medicaid’s prenatal and postpartum care plays a critical role, said March of Dimes’ Stacey Brayboy, warning that cuts would reverse gains like the expansion to one-year postpartum care.

Rep. Ayanna Pressley called the crisis “a death sentence for Black moms,” citing her own family’s loss in the 1950s. She and Sen. Cory Booker are pushing for the Mommies Act to expand protections. “Policy determines who lives, who dies, who survives, and who thrives,” she said.