I 
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 work-
ers 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 pro-
viders and community health workers to reduce the lead-
ing causes of maternal and child mortality, and for other 
purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives 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: 
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(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 mor-
tality 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 approxi-
mately 70 percent of all global maternal deaths. 
(4) These deaths are nearly all caused by treat-
able 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, se-
vere 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. 
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(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 al-
tered. 
(10) The first 1,000 days of life—from concep-
tion to age 2—represent a critical window in which 
appropriate maternal and infant health care can 
dramatically reduce risk of child malnutrition, stunt-
ing, developmental delays, and early childhood illness 
and help prevent and treat complications of preg-
nancy 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 
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support of the mother and child, is key to strength-
ening maternal and child health and promoting a 
safe passage, and has been correlated with increased 
prenatal care, enhanced skilled birth attendance, im-
proved maternal mental health and higher neonatal 
survival. 
(13) Programs such as Maternal Life Inter-
national’s ‘‘Safe Passages’’ model have proven suc-
cessful in training frontline providers, reducing mor-
tality, and delivering sustainable, culturally respect-
ful, 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 obstet-
rical and perinatal complications; 
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(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, commu-
nity-based care, collaboration with national health sys-
tems, and life-affirming health interventions. 
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(b) ELEMENTS.—Interventions supported by the pro-
gram established by subsection (a) are for life-affirming 
training and resource assistance for the following: 
(1) Prevention, recognition, diagnosis and treat-
ment of obstetrical hemorrhage, and its complica-
tions, including postpartum anemia. 
(2) Prevention, recognition, diagnosis and man-
agement of preeclampsia and other hypertensive, 
metabolic and cardiovascular disorders of pregnancy, 
and their complications, up to 1-year postpartum. 
(3) Prevention, recognition, diagnosis and treat-
ment of infections and their complications associated 
with ectopic pregnancy, miscarriage, stillbirth, nor-
mal pregnancy, childbirth and the postpartum pe-
riod. 
(4) Prevention, recognition, diagnosis and man-
agement of obstructed labor and its complications, 
including uterine rupture, obstetric fistulas, and ad-
ditional 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 gesta-
tional age, and neonatal infections and sepsis. 
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