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Public Health Committee advances maternal health bill with report‑card provision; amendment to strip data section fails
Summary
The committee approved a maternal health bill that establishes a perinatal mental health task force and requires DPH to produce an annual maternity care report card; an amendment to remove the bill's data collection/reporting section failed on a roll call.
The Public Health Committee voted to advance House Bill 7214, "An Act Concerning Maternal Health," sending the measure to the legislature's next stage.
The bill creates a perinatal mental health task force to study available programs, treatment innovations and service gaps with attention to communities of color, adolescents and immigrants. It directs the Department of Public Health (DPH) to establish an annual maternity care report card, with an advisory committee to design the tool and to adjust facility scores for acuity. The bill also requires DPH to convene an advisory group to study making hospitals more doula‑friendly.
Senator Summers proposed an amendment to delete the bill's data‑collection section (section 2), arguing for consistency with the committee's recent debate on abortion reporting. The amendment would have removed language directing the commissioner to identify and collect disaggregated data (race, ethnicity, income, facility characteristics) used to compile the report card. Supporters of the amendment said they opposed special data collection unless it is applied consistently; opponents argued that disaggregated maternal data is necessary to identify disparities and target interventions.
The amendment to delete section 2 was defeated on a roll call. Committee testimony and remarks emphasized the high and preventable share of maternal deaths among Black and Hispanic women in Connecticut and the value of data to guide targeted interventions (Senator Amor and other members cited state mortality reviews and trend analyses). The committee then voted to report the bill out to the next stage (committee report/JF to the floor).
Ending
Members described the bill as a starting point to address maternal mortality and disparities; several emphasized the need for follow‑up work, pilots and stakeholder engagement on how a report card would be designed and used. The failed amendment left the bill's reporting language intact for further consideration.
