Part of Collins’ and Flowers’ plan to fight maternal, infant mortality becomes law

Senator Jacqueline Y. Collins

State Senator Jacqueline Collins and State Rep. Mary Flowers issued the following statements recently as Gov. JB Pritzker signed into law part of the legislative package aimed at reducing rising infant and maternal mortality rates:


“I want to thank the governor for signing House Bill 1 and Senator Collins for shepherding the bill through the Senate,” Flowers said. “For some reason, African-American women in Illinois are dying at a rate six times greater than white women for doing something that should come naturally: giving birth. My committee on Health Care Access and Availability convened hearings in September and October of 2018, where testimony from care providers showed that they see disparities due to racism, chauvinism and misogyny, and that health care professionals often do not listen to or respect African-American women when they talk about their health problems. Why are there more African-American women dying from giving birth? House Bill 1’s purpose is to have a task force to investigate this racial disparity in death from childbirth.”




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