1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Maternal Health Pandemic Response Act of 2020 . 2. Findings Congress finds as follows: (1) The World Health Organization declared COVID–19 a Public Health Emergency of International Concern on January 30, 2020. By the beginning of August 2020, there have been over 18,000,000 confirmed cases of, and over 700,000 deaths associated with, COVID–19 worldwide. (2) In the United States, the number of cases of COVID–19 has quickly surpassed the number of such cases in every other nation, and as of August 5, 2020, over 4,000,000 cases and 156,000 deaths have been reported by the United States alone. (3) Long-standing systemic health and social inequities have put communities of color at increased risk of contracting COVID–19 or experiencing severe illness; age-adjusted hospitalization rates from COVID–19 are highest for American Indian and Alaska Native, Black, and Latinx people. (4) Prior to the start of the COVID–19 pandemic, the United States was facing a maternal mortality and morbidity crisis, in which the United States has the highest maternal mortality rate in the developed world, and that rate is not improving. (5) More than 50,000 women in the United States annually experience severe maternal morbidity, and much larger numbers experience more common harmful challenges, such as prenatal and postpartum anxiety and depression and lack of support for meeting breastfeeding goals. (6) Compared to White women, Black and American Indian and Alaska Native women in the United States are significantly more likely to die from pregnancy-related complications, and Black and American Indian and Alaska Native women suffer disproportionately high rates of maternal morbidity. (7) The causes of maternal mortality and morbidity are complex and include racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic inequities; racism, bias, and discrimination; comorbidities