Lawmakers Introduce Bill to Map Correlation Between Maternal Mortality and the Digital Divide – By Aaron Boyd (Nextgov) / Jan 23 2020
The bipartisan, bicameral legislation would add a maternal mortality overlay to connectivity maps produced by the FCC.
Lawmakers in the House and Senate have introduced bills to study the correlation between maternal mortality—mothers that die due to complications from pregnancy, including up to one year after giving birth—and a lack of high-speed, broadband internet.
The Data Mapping to Save Moms’ Lives Act was introduced Jan. 7 in the Senate by Sens. Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., Deb Fischer, R-Neb., Todd Young, R-Ind., and Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii. An identical companion bill was introduced Jan. 16 in the House by Reps. G. K. Butterfield, D-N.C., Robin Kelly, D-Ill., Greg Gianforte, R-Mont., Lisa Blunt Rochester, D-Del., and Susan Brooks, R-Ind.
Under the legislation, the Federal Communications Commission would be required to include “data on maternal health outcomes” in the agency’s Mapping Broadband Health in America program. The tool—in place since 2017—collects health data for a range of issues and overlays that information on maps showing connectivity and broadband access across the country.
“The resulting maps can be used by both public and private sectors, and local communities, to identify opportunities and gaps in connectivity and care,” according to the project website. The latest law would require FCC to include maternal mortality in those datasets.
“Doing so will aid us in allocating broadband resources in a way that most effectively benefits our nation’s mothers,” Butterfield said in a statement. “Across the country, advances in telehealth are showing promising results in patient outcomes and the expansion of these efforts will be an important first step in addressing the maternal health crisis. We can and must do better.”
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