The unifying pro-family policy hiding in plain sight

In Searcy County, Ark., a mother in labor faces an 84-minute drive to the nearest delivery room. One of the state’s most recent labor-and-delivery closures didn’t happen because a hospital ran out of money; it happened because its only OB-GYN died, and there was no one left to replace him.

Ask Americans, whether in red states, blue states or purple states, whether that’s acceptable, and you will find something rare in this country: agreement. 

We know because we asked. In a new national survey, 86 percent of Americans said mothers in the U.S. should not be dying from preventable causes in childbirth — a tragic reality that has worsened in recent years. Each of the 15 policy solutions we tested won majority support. Thirteen cleared 80 percent.

The most popular fix, according to the 1,000 voters surveyed nationwide, is expanding telehealth and specialty care for rural and high-risk pregnancies — care that sends the specialist to the mother instead of asking her to make the drive. Large majorities also said insurance coverage should extend through every baby’s full first year, not stop at six weeks.  

And by wide margins, Americans said they’d favor a political candidate who makes this a priority. 

We are both moms. One of us has built a national campaign to make America the safest place in the world to have a baby. The other has spent decades as a political strategist and presidential counselor, testing and polling American sentiment on nearly every issue........

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