HR 117 Pennsylvania House · 2025-2026 Regular Session

A Resolution recognizing March 14, 2025, as "Black Midwives Day" in Pennsylvania.

This resolution recognizes March 14, 2025, as "Black Midwives Day" in Pennsylvania. It symbolically honors Black midwives' historical and ongoing contributions to maternal health while highlighting persistent disparities, including that Black women in Pennsylvania faced nearly three times the pregnancy-related mortality rate of White women in 2020. The resolution aims to raise awareness about systemic barriers like discrimination, maternity care deserts, and preventable maternal deaths, aligning with the National Black Midwives Alliance's campaign. It does not create new laws or allocate funding but serves as a statement of recognition.

Bill status passed 3 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Mar 2025

Committee Review

Mar 2025

House Passage

Apr 2025

Senate Passage

Governor

Introduced Mar 13, 2025 Last action Apr 8, 2025

Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

Printer's No. PN0955 → Printer's No. PN1116 · 6 edits

MODERATE

This bill update adds co-sponsors to the resolution, updates the printer's number to reflect the latest version, and significantly expands the WHEREAS clauses with additional data and citations about maternal health disparities. The changes strengthen the resolution's factual basis by including specific statistics and referencing recent reports on maternal mortality.

Scope change

The bill's scope remains the same - it is still a House Resolution recognizing March 14, 2025 as Black Midwives Day - but the supporting facts and citations have been substantially expanded.

TECHNICAL

Added co-sponsors including Rivera, Schlossberg, Sanchez, Green, O'Mara, Boyd, Cerrato, and Cepeda-Freytiz to the list of sponsors.

Added procedural note indicating the bill was re-reported from the Committee on Rules as amended on March 24, 2025.

Updated printer's number from PN 0955 to PN 1116 to reflect the current version of the document.

Added new WHEREAS clause citing 2024 Pennsylvania Maternal Mortality Review Annual Report with specific data about preventable maternal deaths.

Added new WHEREAS clause citing Journal of Women's Health and Center on Budget and Policy Priorities regarding systemic discrimination and implicit bias in healthcare.

Added new WHEREAS clause explaining how integrating midwives across healthcare settings would reduce maternal health disparities and address provider shortages.

Floor votes · House Apr 8, 2025

How they voted

109–94

Passed

Total votes 203

Apr 8, 2025

D Democratic102

102 Yea

100% Yea

R Republican101

7 Yea 94 Nay

93% Nay

Vote distribution

All Yea All Nay Mixed No data

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Amendments

Apr 8, 2025

Lower · Passed

Adopted

lower

Mar 24, 2025

Lower · Passed

Re-reported as amended

lower

Mar 24, 2025

Committee

Re-committed to Rules

lower

Mar 19, 2025

Lower · Passed

Reported as committed

lower

Mar 13, 2025

Committee

Referred to Children & Youth

lower

1 primary · 29 co-sponsors