For Immediate Release
March 8, 2023
JACKSON, Miss. – After the Mississippi House of Representatives passed a bill to extend Medicaid coverage for postpartum moms, Angela Grayson of The Lighthouse | Black Girl Projects released the following statement:
“I wholeheartedly believe that Senate Bill 2212 passed the Mississippi House of Representatives because Black women were relentless in keeping the conversation around postpartum care at the forefront on the radar of legislators,” said Angela Grayson, director of advocacy and organizing for The Lighthouse Black Girl Projects. “Even outside of the legislative session, we worked to highlight the challenges of Black maternal health. Black women and mamas, and midwives came together to say that this legislation was good not only for Black women, but for women, and for the state of Mississippi.”
Earlier this year, NBC News noted that “The Mississippi Maternal Mortality Report shows that the maternal mortality rate increased by 8.8% between 2013‐2016 and 2017‐2019, with the latter period being the most recent one analyzed by researchers.”
“We will continue to work through The Black Women Vote Coalition and use the momentum from this win to continue to advocate for Medicaid expansion, particularly to ensure hospitals in the Delta are open and that people have access to healthcare that is a reasonable distance from their homes. We will continue to fight to ensure that women have the tools to advocate for themselves.”