H.R. 6765

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6765 Introduced in House (IH)]

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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.
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