Senate enacts Sen. Carney bill to address racial disparities in prenatal care

AUGUSTA — On Monday, the Maine Senate voted to enact a bill from Sen. Anne Carney, D-Cape Elizabeth, to help address racial disparities in prenatal care among Maine mothers. LD 1113, “Resolve, To Direct the Permanent Commission on the Status of Racial, Indigenous and Maine Tribal Populations To Study and Propose Solutions to Disparities in Access to Prenatal Care in the State,” received unanimous, bipartisan support.

“Study after study has shown that access to quality prenatal care is absolutely vital for expecting mothers. The unfortunate truth is that in Maine, far too many women don’t have access to this care — and far too many of those mothers are women of color. We must do what we can to find out what is causing this disparity and address it,” said Sen. Carney. “This bill will ultimately protect the health of more mothers and children across Maine, and I’m grateful for all the support it has received.” 

LD 1113 would direct the Permanent Commission on the Status of Racial, Indigenous and Maine Tribal Populations to study disparities in access to prenatal care in the state. As amended, the bill would authorize the commission to submit a report to the Health and Human Services Committee, which would then offer legislation that helps create equity in access to prenatal care in Maine.

Maine has a significant racial disparity in access to prenatal care. Data from 2019 shows that in Maine, 90 percent of all women started prenatal care in the first trimester, although less than 75 percent of Black women had prenatal care in the first trimester. In Maine, only 4 percent of all women had no prenatal care until the third trimester, while 12 percent of Black women in Maine had no prenatal care until the third trimester. This is worse than the national rate of 10 percent and is tied with Texas as the worst rate in the country. 

“In order to start dismantling some of these long-standing inequities, we must better understand what leads to lack of, or late initiation into, prenatal care for Maine’s Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) communities,” said Darcy Shargo, CEO of the Maine Primary Care Association, in testimony supporting the bill. “Early access to prenatal care is a key area of focus and interest for all of Maine’s 20 community health centers, which are spread as far north as Fort Kent and as far south as Springvale. As part of a mandatory reporting requirement, these health centers track whether patients initiate prenatal care in their first trimester of pregnancy. Much research underscores that when women receive good prenatal care during their first trimester, it is a good indication of overall future health for mothers, their children, and their families alike.”

The bill now goes to Gov. Janet Mills, who has 10 days to either sign the bill, veto it or allow it to become law without her signature.