TRUST. RESPECT. ACCESS.

10 Point Policy Framework for the Right to Safe and Respectful Maternal Health Care 1. Expand the life of the maternal mortality task force as a first step to ensuring safe and respectful maternal health care

2. Ensure access to legal, safe abortion services • Expand provider base for early abortion care • Permit non-physician clinicians to perform first trimester abortions and/or medication abortions • Ensure every person has coverage for abortion care, including public employees and those on Medicaid (EACH Woman Act) • Require CPCs to provide notice to clients of services they do NOT provide

3. Expand Medicaid • Establish presumptive qualification for pregnant women awaiting Medicaid approval • Extend time limits for emergency Medicaid coverage • Offer family planning coverage to young women as they age out of parental insurance coverage, a known method to expand access to basic health care that can prevent, diagnose and manage health problems that lead to pregnancy complications

4. Expand family planning funding and options • Increase state funding for family planning, all and only qualified family planning providers eligible for state family planning funding • Dedicate family planning funds to family planning service providers in underserved areas, ensure that family planning funds cover all FDA-approved contraceptive methods • Require all health insurers to cover the full range of FDA-approved contraceptive methods without cost sharing or delays, require insurers to cover a full year of contraceptive coverage at one time

5. Improve access to sexual health information and education • Require public schools to provide evidence-based sexuality education, relying on medically accurate information and materials grounded in public health guidance • Require sexuality education curriculum and materials be culturally relevant, include information on sexual orientation, gender identity, abortion, and address the sexual health needs and issues of all people, including marginalized communities

6. Improve quality of maternal health care • Ensure sufficient funding for state health departments and related maternal and child health agencies or programs • Establish mental health care collaboratives to work with maternal health care providers and programs • Require maternal risk screenings in early prenatal care visits • Protect the civil rights of pregnant people by ensuring that criminal laws do not infringe on access to health care • Address and fund treatment for substance abuse, provide resources that support individuals experiencing intimate partner violence • Assess distribution of ob-gyn facilities and the obstetric care they are able to provide • Direct funding to fill gaps in ob-gyn care • Prioritize improvements at sites of care serving populations disproportionately impacted by maternal

mortality, including black, immigrant and rural populations • Direct funding to build the capacity of health facilities serving these populations

7. Improve post-partum care • • • •

Ensure that women have access to health information and services immediately after birth Ensure that quality care remains available to women after pregnancy ends Include mental health services as part of this to catch for postpartum depression Expand Medicaid to cover women for at least a year after delivery

8. Require delivery care and associated services to be safe and respectful • Deter unnecessary early deliveries and other procedures that can be harmful when not medically indicated • Expand services that are covered by Medicaid to include reimbursements for lactation consultants, language translation, care coordination, nurse home visits, midwives, and doula support • Require and pay for obstetrics providers to have all equipment available and fully functioning to address pregnancy and delivery complications

9. Build cultural competency of providers to meet the needs of Black women and others who are disproportionately impacted by maternal mortality • Ensure health providers receive training on implicit bias, class and gender bias, anti-racism, and human rights in the practice of health care • Support people from under-represented backgrounds in pursuing careers in primary care and maternity professions, including recruitment, scholarships and grants, mentoring programs, and loan forgiveness programs

10.

Ensure non-discrimination in access to maternal health care and address social issues impacting maternal mortality, including: • Incarcerated women’s health care, transportation costs and access, affordable housing, food needs, environmental racism, police brutality and criminalization of people of color, support parenting and women in the workplace, and increase minimum wage

The Trust. Respect. Access. coalition envisions a Texas where everyone — regardless of their age, income, zip code, gender identity, immigration status, or whether they are incarcerated or detained — has access to all reproductive health care options. The coalition partners include: ACLU of Texas, The Afiya Center, Jane’s Due Process, Lilith Fund for Reproductive Equity, NARAL Pro-Choice Texas, National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health, Planned Parenthood Texas Votes, Progress Texas, Shift., Texas Equal Access Fund, Texas Freedom Network, and Whole Woman’s Health. The Trust. Respect. Access. coalition acknowledges the work of the Black Mamas Matter Alliance in advancing the human right to safe and respectful maternal health care. Learn more at http://blackmamasmatter.org.