1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Ending Maternal Mortality Act of 2018 . 2. Findings The Congress finds as follows: (1) Four million American women give birth each year, and an estimated 700 will die annually during pregnancy, childbirth, or the postpartum period. (2) The United States ranks 47th for maternal mortality rate globally, and is one of only eight countries in which the maternal mortality rate is rising. It is estimated that, between 2000 and 2014, the United States maternal mortality rate grew by 26.6 percent. (3) Common causes of maternal mortality include obstetric hemorrhage, hypertension and preeclampsia, sepsis, and substance use disorder and overdose. (4) More than half of maternal deaths are likely preventable. (5) Additionally, 65,000 American women experience severe maternal morbidity (SMM) annually, meaning the physical and psychological conditions that result from, or are aggravated by, pregnancy have an adverse effect on the health of a woman. (6) Racial and ethnic disparities persist across the Nation, and Black women are three to four times more likely to die from complications of pregnancy or childbirth than White women. 3. Plan for reducing maternal mortality The Public Health Service Act is amended by inserting after section 229 of such Act ( 42 U.S.C. 237a ) the following new section: 229A. Plan for reducing maternal mortality (a) In general Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of the Ending Maternal Mortality Act of 2018 , and biennially thereafter, the Secretary shall develop and submit to the Congress a national plan to reduce the rate of preventable maternal mortality, with the goals of— (1) cutting the rate in half over the 10 years following such date of enactment; and (2) eliminating preventable maternal deaths by the date that is 20 years after such date of enactment. (b) Objectives; strategy In each biennial plan under subsection (a), the Secretary shall include— (1) a list of objectives for meeting the goals described in subsection (a)