Already facing backlash for its decision to forgo reviewing critical post-Roe v. Wade pregnancy-related deaths, the state’s Maternal Mortality and Morbidity Review Committee (MMRC) is giving the public more reason to suspect political interference.
Originally slated to be released on September 1, as it typically has been in previous years, state health officials now say the committee’s much-anticipated biennial report that analyzes maternal deaths—and makes key legislative recommendations—won’t be released until December 1, pushing its publication past the November midterm elections and to just a month before the start of the Texas legislative session. Maternal health activists have pushed back on the ostensible reason behind the report’s lag, a new state law that health officials say gives the MMRC a three-month extension.
