Ruiz Celebrates Signing of Legislation Establishing Maternal Health Care Pilot Program

Trenton – Senate President Pro Tempore Senator M. Teresa Ruiz issued the following statement applauding the signing of legislation she sponsored implementing a pilot program to evaluate the shared-decision making tool developed by the Department of Health. The shared-decision making tool will be used by hospitals providing maternity services and by birthing centers:

“The maternal health care pilot program underscores our dedication to ensure women have access to essential resources needed to make well-informed decisions regarding their reproductive health. A shared-decision making tool opens up the line of communication between healthcare providers and patients, empowering women with the knowledge to make critical medical decisions that suit their needs and meet their goals.

“All women deserve to know that they have options with regards to their maternal care. Unfortunately, statistics reveal that not all women are afforded the same level of information and disparities based on age, race and income-levels persist. There is no place for this type of discrimination in our society, none. This will be an important step to minimizing the prevalence of these disparities for the mothers and soon-to-be mothers in our state.”