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[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6765 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
119th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 6765
To prioritize and fund life-affirming maternal and child health
initiatives globally by equipping local health providers and community
health workers to reduce the leading causes of maternal and child
mortality, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
December 16, 2025
Mr. Smith of New Jersey (for himself and Ms. Salazar) introduced the
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To prioritize and fund life-affirming maternal and child health
initiatives globally by equipping local health providers and community
health workers to reduce the leading causes of maternal and child
mortality, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Safe Passages Act of 2025''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) Around the world, over 287,000 women die each year from
pregnancy-related complications--most of which are preventable.
(2) In sub-Saharan Africa, the maternal mortality rate in
2023 was 442 per 100,000 live births, compared to 14 per
100,000 in developed countries.
(3) Sub-Saharan Africa accounts for approximately 70
percent of all global maternal deaths.
(4) These deaths are nearly all caused by treatable
conditions including postpartum hemorrhage, severe
preeclampsia, infection, and obstructed labor, reflecting a
lack of access to skilled birth attendants with the training,
tools, and infrastructure needed to provide life-affirming
obstetrical care.
(5) Short of death and in the absence of skilled pregnancy
care and birth attendance, women may also suffer severe
complications during and after childbirth including
stillbirths, obstetric fistula, severe anemia, infection, and
cardiovascular damage, all of which can cause lifelong
complications.
(6) Maternal death, which is also associated with a decline
in the standard of living for children in the bereaved family,
is one of the leading causes of fetal and newborn death.
(7) Infants whose mothers die during childbirth face
dramatically elevated risk with a least 20-fold times risk of
mortality in the first month of life.
(8) Even beyond the neonatal period, maternal death is
associated with 4-6 times greater mortality risk for young
children.
(9) These statistics reflect not merely public health
trends but the personal tragedies of women, children, and
families whose futures are forever altered.
(10) The first 1,000 days of life--from conception to age
2--represent a critical window in which appropriate maternal
and infant health care can dramatically reduce risk of child
malnutrition, stunting, developmental delays, and early
childhood illness and help prevent and treat complications of
pregnancy that can have short- and long-term impacts on the
health of mothers.
(11) Strengthening maternal and child health preserves both
mother and child, strengthens family units, enhances a myriad
of human development goals, and upholds the dignity and worth
of every human life.
(12) The engagement and support of fathers through
financial, material, relational and emotional support of the
mother and child, is key to strengthening maternal and child
health and promoting a safe passage, and has been correlated
with increased prenatal care, enhanced skilled birth
attendance, improved maternal mental health and higher neonatal
survival.
(13) Programs such as Maternal Life International's ``Safe
Passages'' model have proven successful in training frontline
providers, reducing mortality, and delivering sustainable,
culturally respectful, life-affirming care in low-resource
settings.
SEC. 3. PURPOSE.
The purpose of this Act is to advance and fund life-affirming
maternal and child health interventions that--
(1) equip local providers, including midwives, physicians,
physician assistants, nurse practitioners, and community health
workers, with life-affirming training in how to prevent,
recognize, and manage the leading causes of maternal and
perinatal death and their complications;
(2) provide medical resources, training, and emergency
obstetric equipment to carry out the above skilled life-
affirming management of obstetrical and perinatal
complications;
(3) provide education and support for health care and
nutrition during the first 1,000 days of life;
(4) provide education and support for fathers in their
support and responsibility for the well-being of the mother and
child;
(5) support a continuum of life-affirming care for women
and men inclusive of pre-conception health, fertility health,
fertility awareness, healthy child spacing, natural family
planning, safe birth and postpartum mental health; and
(6) operate in full alignment with respect for life at all
stages from conception to natural death and strengthening the
family.
SEC. 4. SAFE PASSAGES MATERNAL AND CHILD HEALTH PROGRAM.
(a) Establishment.--There is established a global initiative to be
known as the ``Safe Passages Maternal and Child Health Program'' to
help reduce maternal and child mortality in low- and lower-middle-
income countries with high maternal and child mortality rates through
fiscal year 2030, through faith-based health partnerships, community-
based care, collaboration with national health systems, and life-
affirming health interventions.
(b) Elements.--Interventions supported by the program established
by subsection (a) are for life-affirming training and resource
assistance for the following:
(1) Prevention, recognition, diagnosis and treatment of
obstetrical hemorrhage, and its complications, including
postpartum anemia.
(2) Prevention, recognition, diagnosis and management of
preeclampsia and other hypertensive, metabolic and
cardiovascular disorders of pregnancy, and their complications,
up to 1-year postpartum.
(3) Prevention, recognition, diagnosis and treatment of
infections and their complications associated with ectopic
pregnancy, miscarriage, stillbirth, normal pregnancy,
childbirth and the postpartum period.
(4) Prevention, recognition, diagnosis and management of
obstructed labor and its complications, including uterine
rupture, obstetric fistulas, and additional related
complications.
(5) Reduction of fetal, perinatal, neonatal and infant
mortality, including stillbirth, by preventing, recognizing,
diagnosing and treating fetal distress, newborn asphyxia, birth
trauma, intrauterine growth restriction, premature birth, small
size for gestational age, and neonatal infections and sepsis.
(6) Nutritional and health education for the mother and
provision of nutritional resources for the mother and child
during the first 1,000 days of life, from conception to 2 years
of age provided through coordination with the office leading on
global food security.
(7) Training and dissemination of natural fertility
awareness based methods in accordance with evidence-based non-
abortive practices.
(8) Promote increasing fathers' support and involvement for
mothers and children.
(c) Implementation.--The Secretary of State shall prioritize the
implementation of the program established by subsection (a) in
collaboration with new and existing global health partnerships deemed
to be efficient and reliable in the expenditure of taxpayer dollars,
prioritizing local faith-based providers and faith-based organizations
with strong local partnerships and which have experience and expertise
in maternal and child health delivery in resource-limited settings.
SEC. 5. AMENDMENT TO EXISTING LAW AND AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS.
(a) Amendment.--Section 104(c) of the Foreign Assistance Act of
1961 (22 U.S.C. 2151b(c)) is amended to read as follows:
``(c) Maternal and Child Health and Nutrition.--Assistance under
this section shall prioritize maternal and child health interventions
consistent with the Safe Passages Maternal and Child Health Program
established by section 4 of the Safe Passages Act of 2025, including
prevention and treatment of obstetric complications, such as
hemorrhage, hypertensive disorders, sepsis, obstructed labor, and
neonatal resuscitation; support for maternal nutrition; health care for
the child throughout the first 1,000 days of life from conception to
approximately 2 years of age; and support for fathers to care for
mothers and their children. Such assistance shall promote natural
methods of fertility awareness and shall not be used for abortion or
abortion-related services.''.
(b) Availability.--Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the
President, acting through the Secretary of State, shall, from funds
made available under the Global Health Programs account, make available
not less than $400,000,000 annually to carry out section 4 of this Act
and subsection (c) of section 104 of the Foreign Assistance Act of
1961, as amended by subsection (a), including for life-affirming
maternal and child health programs that--
(1) focus on the prevention of maternal, fetal, and
neonatal deaths;
(2) promote natural methods of fertility awareness and
couple-centered care;
(3) provide training and emergency response to the 5
leading causes of maternal mortality: hemorrhage, hypertensive
disorders, sepsis and infections, obstructed labor and uterine
rupture, and miscarriage, to include surgical management of
obstetrical emergencies and pregnancy complications (not to
include elective abortions);
(4) provide training and response for the leading causes of
maternal late postpartum complications: severe anemia,
neurological and cardiovascular injury following hypertensive
disorders, fistula, hemorrhage, infections, and postpartum
mental health conditions;
(5) provide training and emergency response to the leading
causes of infant mortality: premature birth, birth
complications (birth asphyxia/trauma), intrauterine growth
restriction, and neonatal sepsis and infections;
(6) uphold life-affirming care for both mother and child;
and
(7) engage fathers in these life-affirming maternal and
child health programs as well as in the care of the mothers and
their children.
SEC. 6. REPORTING AND OVERSIGHT.
Not later than 2 years after the date of the enactment of this Act,
and biennially thereafter, the Secretary of State shall submit to
Congress a report detailing--
(1) the number of trainings offered, providers and cadres
trained, including midwives, physicians, community health
workers, nurses, physician assistants, nurse practitioners,
pharmacists, laboratory technicians, and other birth
attendants, and the content of the training curricula;
(2) the effectiveness of such trainings, measured
rigorously and objectively, to determine improvements in
knowledge and skills through pre- and post-training
assessments;
(3) initial and annual co-investments made by private
industry and foreign governments;
(4) sustainability plans and timelines for organizations
and governments receiving assistance;
(5) the number of facilities receiving support for facility
upgrades (such as basic lab tests, blood transfusion services,
second-line uterotonics for postpartum hemorrhage, broad
spectrum antibiotics, referral and transport systems for rural
health-care facilities, and ultrasound services for recognition
and management of high-risk pregnancies), and the nature of the
upgrades;
(6) any support provided for establishment of revolving
capital funds;
(7) community- and hospital-level data on maternal, fetal,
neonatal and infant morbidity and mortality, presented as a
comparison between areas served and not served;
(8) regions and facilities served;
(9) estimated maternal and child lives saved; and
(10) compliance with United States foreign assistance
restrictions and goals of this Act.
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.
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