Maternal mortality rate in the US declines to its lowest since 2018: CDC
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(NEW YORK) — Maternal mortality rates in the United States have dropped to their lowest levels in recent years, according to new data published on Thursday.
The report, from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics, compared maternal deaths in 2023 and 2024, with maternal deaths defined as the death of a woman during pregnancy or within 42 days of pregnancy termination.
In 2024, 649 women died of maternal causes in the U.S., with a rate of 17.9 deaths per 100,000 births, according to the report.
By comparison, 669 women died in 2023 with a rate of 18.6 deaths per 100,000 births, the report found.
This is also the lowest rate seen since 2018, which had a maternal mortality rate of 17.4 deaths per 100,000 live births.
Data showed significant racial/ethnic disparities. Black women had the highest mortality rate at 44.8 deaths per 100,000 live births.
This was three times higher than the mortality rate for white women of 14.2 deaths per 100,000 live births. Hispanic and Asian women also had lower rates of 12.1 deaths per 100,000 and 18.1 deaths per 100,000, respectively.
Research has shown that Black women are more likely to have pre-existing cardiovascular disease and are more likely to experience adverse pregnancy outcomes, both of which increase the risk of maternal mortality.
Between 2023 and 2024, rates for Black, white and Hispanic women declined while the rate for Asian women rose, but neither the decreases nor the increase was “significant,” according to the report.
There were also disparities by age. Women aged 40 and older had the highest maternal mortality rate of 62.3 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2024.
This was 4.5 times higher than the mortality rate for women younger than age 25, which sat at 13.7 per 100,000 and 3.7 times higher than the rate for women between ages 25 and 39, sitting at 16.5 per 100,000. The report describes the differences in the women aged 40 and older group with the younger groups as “significant.”
More than 80% of pregnancy-related deaths are preventable, according to the CDC. The report did not examine why the maternal mortality rate declined, but the CDC has taken steps to support efforts to prevent pregnancy-related deaths.
Among these are Hear Her, which is a national campaign that shares messages about signs and symptoms during and after pregnancy that warrant seeking urgent medical care.
Additionally, the CDC conducts national surveillance through the Pregnancy Mortality Surveillance System, which is used to better understand the risk factors for and causes of pregnancy-related deaths in the U.S.
Signs point the way to measles testing in the parking lot of the Seminole Hospital District across from Wigwam Stadium on February 27, 2025 in Seminole, Texas. Jan Sonnenmair/Getty Images
(NEW YORK) — At least 588 measles cases have been confirmed so far this year across the U.S., according to updated data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
This means the U.S. has seen more cases in about one month than is typically recorded in an entire year.
Only nine other years, including last year, have had higher case counts since measles was declared eliminated in 2000.
The high case counts in 2026 are largely being driven by a measles outbreak in South Carolina.
At least 17 states have also reported measles cases this year including Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Kentucky, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin.
Almost all cases are tied to ongoing outbreaks in pockets of undervaccinated or unvaccinated communities. Just three measles cases were reported among international travelers so far this year, according to CDC data.
Last year, the U.S. saw a record-breaking number of measles cases reported with 2,257 infections, the highest figure recorded since 1992. The U.S. could be on pace to surpass that record if cases continue to mount at this rate.
The CDC currently recommends that people receive two doses of the measles, mumps, rubella (MMR) vaccine, the first at ages 12 to 15 months and the second between 4 and 6 years old. One dose is 93% effective, and two doses are 97% effective against measles, the CDC says.
However, federal data shows vaccination rates have been lagging in recent years. During the 2024-2025 school year, 92.5% of kindergartners received the MMR vaccine, according to data. This is lower than the 92.7% seen in the previous school year and the 95.2% seen in the 2019-2020 school year, before the COVID-19 pandemic.
The national trends mirror those see in counties across the U.S. A recent map from ABC News — a collaboration with researchers from Boston Children’s Hospital, Harvard School of Medicine and Icahn School of Medicine at Mt. Sinai that allows people to type in their ZIP code and see the measles risk in their area — found a wide range of risks in areas across the U.S.
Some counties and ZIP codes fell into the “lowest risk,” with 85% or more of children under 5 years old receiving one or more measles vaccine dose to “very high risk” with fewer than 60% of children under age 5 receiving one or more measles vaccine dose.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton attends the executive order signing ceremony to reduce the size and scope of the Education Department in the East Room of the White House on March 20, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — A Texas appeals court will hear arguments on Thursday in a civil lawsuit brought against a woman accused by the state of illegally providing abortions in the Houston area.
Maria Margarita Rojas allegedly provided abortions in violation of the state’s abortion ban and was practicing medicine without a license at a network of clinics in northwestern Houston, according to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.
Last year, a lower court in Waller County issued an injunction against Rojas and the three clinics at which she worked, causing them to shut down.
The Center for Reproductive Rights is currently asking the appellate court to reverse that decision.
Meanwhile, prosecutors have also accused Rojas of violating the state’s abortion ban and charged her with a first-degree felony that carries a potential sentence of up to life in prison.
“[Paxton] is accusing our client of basically operating abortion clinics, which the problem is that the allegations just aren’t true and we think that the state completely failed to prove or show that any abortions were happening or that any unlawful practice was happening at the clinics,” Marc Herron, interim associate director of litigation with the CRR, who is representing Rojas in the civil case, told ABC News.
ABC News has also reached out to the attorney representing Rojas in the criminal case.
Herron said the case against Rojas is significant because it marks the first time a provider has been criminally charged in Texas for violating the state’s abortion ban.
He accused Paxton’s office of conducting a “shoddy” investigation and said Rojas was using the abortion drug misoprostol to provide miscarriage care.
In January 2025, an anonymous complaint was filed with the Texas Health and Human Services Commission, alleging that two abortions were performed at one of Rojas’ clinics, according to the appellate brief.
The Medicaid Fraud Division within Paxton’s office began investigating, with one investigator claiming to find a pill bottle of the drug misoprostol, according to the complaint. While misoprostol can be used as part of a two-drug combination to induce an abortion, it is also used to treat first-trimester miscarriages.
In filing an appeal, Rojas’ attorneys argued that mifepristone, the drug given with misoprostol to induce an abortion, was never found by investigators, nor were tools found that would be used in a surgical abortion.
They also alleged the state investigators had no “medical training or expertise” to know what misoprostol could be used for and did not consult with a medical expert during the investigation.
Herron said the effects of the investigation and of the charges have been devastating on Rojas.
“I think this is a politically motivated case and the effect has been to completely upend my client’s life,” Herron said. “She was arrested twice. She was held in jail for 10 days and had to post this exorbitant $1.4 million bond. She’s now out, but she’s got to wear an ankle monitor. There are extreme restrictions on her travel. Her midwifery license has been temporarily suspended pending the outcome of the criminal proceedings, which could take years.”
He added that the proceedings have also affected the predominantly Spanish-speaking, low-income, uninsured patients who relied on care from Rojas and her clinics.
“People who relied on Mrs. Rojas for midwifery care — she delivered babies,” Herron said. “She was a caring, devoted midwife who delivered babies and provided care to her patients, and now her patients can’t turn to her. So this has been devastating.”
According to a press release last year from Paxton, Rojas is a midwife known as “Dr. Maria.” She allegedly owned and operated multiple clinics, including Clinica Waller Latinoamericana in Waller, Clinica Latinoamericana Telge in Cypress and Latinoamericana Medical Clinic in Spring — all in the northwest Houston area.
Rojas is accused of performing “illegal abortion procedures” in her clinics, which allegedly violated the Texas Human Life Protection Act, the attorney general’s office said.
Abortions are banned in Texas except in limited, exception cases if the woman has a life-threatening condition or is at risk of “substantial impairment of a major bodily function.”
In the limited exceptions when abortion is allowed, patients are required to make two trips, one for an in-person counseling session and then 24 hours later for the abortion, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a research group that focuses on sexual and reproductive health
Paxton’s office did not immediately return ABC News’ request for comment
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with oil and gas executives in the East Room of the White House on January 9, 2026, in Washington, DC. Trump is holding the meeting to discuss plans for investment in Venezuela after ousting its leader Nicolás Maduro. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — On the last day to enroll in Affordable Care Act (ACA) health insurance plans in most states, President Donald Trump presented his own ideas for a health care plan that left some health policy experts that spoke to ABC News with unanswered questions.
Trump has long been asked for a health care plan amid sustained criticism of the ACA, which was signed into law by President Barack Obama. “The Great Healthcare Plan” presents a proposal to shift government insurance subsidies directly to consumers through health savings accounts and take advantage of his “most favored nation” drug price initiative.
“My plan would reduce your insurance premiums by stopping government payoffs to big insurance companies and sending that money directly to the people,” Trump said in a video announcing the plan.
However, the video and one-page fact sheet posted on the White House website were light on specifics about how much would actually go to Americans or how much funding the plan would require or how the funds would be distributed.
Dr. Sachin Jain, a former official in the Department of Health and Human Services during the Obama administration, acknowledged that it’s a “pretty big step” for Trump to articulate health care as a major priority during his second term.
Jain, who is now the president and CEO of SCAN Group and SCAN Health Plan, a not-for-profit Medicare Advantage provider, told ABC News “health care is one of these areas where the devil is always in the details” in terms of what changes could be implemented.
Aside from lowering drug prices through most-favored nation deals and cutting back on insurance subsidies, the plan proposes a cost-sharing provision that the Congressional Budget Office estimates would reduce most Obamacare premiums by 10%.
The plan also proposes to hold insurance companies accountable with a “Plain English” standard and institute pricing requirements for providers who accept Medicare and Medicaid to “prominently post their pricing and fees.”
Trump urged Congress to “pass this framework into law without delay.”
Some provisions will have ‘virtually no effect’
Some health policy experts believe with just a one-page fact sheet that there’s no way to tell how impactful these ideas could be and if they will expand on the plans already in existence through the ACA.
“Several of these provisions would have virtually no effect because they’re already in the ACA, or they look very similar to ones that are already in the ACA,” KFF Senior Vice President Cynthia Cox told ABC News.
Cox, the director of the Program on the ACA at the independent health policy research organization, stressed that Trump’s plan, in many respects, already exists, including price transparency and holding big insurance companies accountable.
Speaking about his plan, the president said Thursday that “nobody’s ever heard of” this idea to give money directly to the consumer, but Jain noted that what’s known as “consumerism” has been around for a long time.
“One of the big challenges with consumerism is health care is a complex industry to navigate, and people don’t often understand what it is that they’re buying or not buying,” Jain told ABC News.
Patients might also have a “degree of anxiety” because they don’t always know what bill they’re going to get, according to Jain.
“When it comes to true consumerism, shopping for health care isn’t like shopping for other goods and services, mostly because people don’t actually want to consume more health care,” he said.
Cox stressed that not only is giving money directly to Americans not a new proposal, it was already in multiple Republican proposals that failed to advance through the Senate in December.
Senate Health Committee Chairman Bill Cassidy argued at the time of the bill’s consideration that his legislative package would have put “thousands in patients’ pockets” to help pay for their out-of-pocket expenses.But the measure failed by a 51-48 vote just days before the expiration of the enhanced ACA tax credits.
White House officials on Thursday said Congress’ legislative plans haven’t been able to “effectuate” Trump’s desire to pay people directly for their health care costs. Without referencing any lawmakers and their existing packages specifically, the administration officials told reporters on Thursday that the White House has engaged with many Hill “allies” on the details of the president’s new plan.
Cox said she believes the president’s new strategy could also create problems for vulnerable Americans, leaving them with no option for health insurance if they don’t get it through their employer.
“One possible interpretation of this [plan] is that, you know, if you give cash to people without any requirement that they use that cash to purchase ACA marketplace coverage — or coverage that has protections for people with pre-existing conditions — then you might see that healthy people use taxpayer dollars to purchase coverage that’s not compliant with the Affordable Care Act,” Cox told ABC News.
“What that would mean is that the ACA or Obamacare markets become destabilized, possibly to the point of collapsing, which would leave people who have pre-existing conditions and who would otherwise rely on that coverage without any options,” she said.
“It could effectively do away with the pre-existing condition protection provisions of the Affordable Care Act, and at least for people who are buying their own health insurance, which is over 20 million people,” Cox added.
What’s next?
Experts suggest it’s too early to tell how soon the new proposal could impact people’s health care, especially with Congress virtually gone through Tuesday.
White House officials said the president wants Congress to codify his plan, but didn’t specify how much input congressional leaders had on the new proposal.
The House last week passed a Democratic-led bill that would see the enhanced premium tax credits extended by three years.
But a path forward that sends the legislation through the Senate to the Resolute Desk for Trump’s signature remains in question.
GOP Senate Majority Leader John Thune has said that there’s “no appetite” for an extension in the upper chamber but pointed to ongoing bipartisan talks on the extensions between senators and House members.
Since Trump’s video announcement, House Speaker Mike Johnson has vowed to continue deliberative discussions with the White House to lower health care costs for Americans.
In reference to the president’s healthcare plan, Cassidy said his Senate committee will “take action” on Trump’s affordability agenda. Republican Sen. Roger Marshall also lobbied to work with the president on a comprehensive package that includes his bill to make health care more affordable.
Still, Democratic Sen. Patty Murray blasted the plan in a post on X, writing that it took the president over a decade to come up with a health care plan that is “one entire page.”
“It will do absolutely NOTHING to stop your premiums from more than doubling,” she said.
Meanwhile, the president’s plan came on the last day to enroll in ACA health insurance plans in most states, with a few exceptions. According to government data, about 1.4 million fewer people have signed up so far this year, as premiums skyrocketed after ACA tax credits expired at the end of 2025.
Cox, at KFF, emphasized that many people could face dire consequences with the health care coverage currently available to them.
“People are really, in some cases, facing life or death decisions because they can’t afford to pay another $10,000 to keep their insurance coverage, which might mean they go uninsured,” she said.
ABC News’ Allison Pecorin and Mary Kekatos contributed to this report.
