Senate advances ‘Momnibus’ bills aimed at addressing racial disparities in maternal health
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State Sen. Erika Geiss (D-Taylor) discusses pieces of the "MI Momnibus" legislation before their passage on Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2024. | Anna Liz Nichols
Members of the Michigan State Senate on Tuesday voted to advance a package of eight bills focused on improving racial equity in maternal healthcare and addressing violence and racism in perinatal care.
Introduced in April, the “MI Momnibus” bills seek to support community driven programs and care options, improve prenatal and maternal health care and ensure accountability for those providing maternal healthcare within the state.
According to the Centers for Disease Control, Black women are three times more likely to die from a pregnancy-related cause than white women due to a number of factors, including: variations in healthcare quality, underlying chronic conditions, structural racism and implicit bias.
Additionally, studies have found Black and Hispanic women are nearly four times and two times respectively to receive five or less prenatal care visits as compared to white women due to factors like insurance and transportation access, alongside other social factors.
Another study published by the Jacobs Institute of Women’s Health found 40% of African American women experienced communication issues, and nearly 25% perceived discrimination while hospitalized for giving birth.
“The Michigan Momnibus was created by amplifying the voices, experiences and needs of Black birthing people, mothers, families and stakeholders, as well as other minoritized and rural birthing people, mothers and families. And it recognizes and includes the exact things that over the years, these communities have said they need and want to see come to fruition when it comes to prenatal, obstetric, postnatal care,” said Sen. Erika Geiss (D-Taylor), one of the lead sponsors on the package.
Among the bills passed through the Senate were:
- Senate Bill 818, which requires the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) to include a plan to reduce inequities as part of its strategic plan to reduce racial and ethnic disparities. It must also include studies and reports on biased or unjust perinatal care — including but not limited to?instances of obstetric violence or racism — on its website. It also requires DHHS to maintain a team to review statewide maternal deaths and submit a report to the House and Senate committees concerned with health policy every three years starting in 2026 on the most preventable causes of maternal mortality with the greatest impact on the states’ prenatal and postpartum population. The report must also include a list of recommendations on best practices and quality improvement in clinical settings to reduce the incidence of pregnancy-related deaths, maternal mortality, and ill-health in prenatal, perinatal, and postnatal healthcare settings. The bill passed 23-14.
- Senate Bill 819, creates the unjust care reporting act, requiring the Michigan Department of Civil Rights (MDCR) to take reports of obstetric violence or racism and report the prevalence of this improper care to the Governor, the Legislature, the director of DHHS and the director of the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA). The bill passed 23-14.
- Senate Bill 820, which requires hospitals to stabilize a patient or resident who is pregnant and in labor before ending their patient or resident relationship on the individual’s denial of care. It also bars an owner, operator, or governing body of a hospital from discriminating against an individual due to pregnancy or lactating status. It also requires hospitals to provide LARA with information that they have a policy in place to support patient protection and ensure that a patient can bring their doula, spouse or companion with them during labor. The bill passed 23-14.
- Senate Bill 821 changes the state’s insurance code to have the Department of Insurance and Financial Services collect information from medical malpractice insurance providers about their perinatal care policies upon request of DHHS. The bill passed unanimously with 37 votes. Sen. Lana Theis (R-Brighton) was absent from session.
- Senate Bill 822 allows a designated patient advocate to make life-sustaining treatment decisions for a patient regardless of their pregnancy status. The bill passed along party lines, 20-17.
- Senate Bill 823 amends the Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act to ensure discrimination on the basis of sex includes, but is not limited to, pregnancy or lactating status. The bill passed 24-13.
- Senate Bill 825 amends the Public Health Code to include licensed midwives and midwifery programs to the Michigan Essential Health Provider Repayment program, which assists providers in repaying student loans. The bill passed unanimously with 37 votes.
- House Bill 5826 establishes a doula scholarship fund for individuals who are facing financial hardship and working to become a doula in medically underserved areas. The bill passed 22-15.
Ahead of the vote, Sen. Jonathan Lindsey (R-Allen) offered an amendment to Geiss’s Senate Bills 818 and 819. While speaking to his amendment for Senate Bill 818, Lindsey called for DHHS’s reporting and reports to the Legislature to include information on the racial disparities in abortions, noting that Black women make up 14% of Michigan’s population, but account for more than 50% of those receiving abortion care in the state.
“This data will help guide future policy decisions and make sure that medical professionals will not pressure patients to end their pregnancy simply based on their race,” Lindsey said.
After the defeat of his amendment, Lindsey urged members of the Senate to vote no on the bill.
“I think after that vote, it proves for this chamber that the majority is not serious about improving health outcomes for all mothers and newborn children in our state. We can’t simply turn a blind eye on issues as important as the one I brought up, the idea that certain communities have drastically different outcomes when it comes to having abortions as a result of a pregnancy,” Lindsey said.
While speaking with reporters after the session, Geiss said the effort to tie the Momnibus bills to abortion was “missing the forest for the trees.”
“That’s not what this package is about. This package is about making sure that the people who are, who want to and are choosing to have a child or expand their their families, are able to do so in [a way], that’s going to be the most healthy for them, not just physically healthy, but emotionally healthy as well, so that they have the best possible experience,” Geiss said.
Senate Bills 818-823 and 825 have been referred to the House Committee on Health Policy, while House Bill 5826 returns to the House floor for further consideration.
Lansing, MI