The American Civil Liberties Union of Rhode Island and The Lawyering Project, a national organization that works to improve access to reproductive health care, filed a “friend of the court” brief today that shares stories of three people who experienced a loss of a loved one due to preventable pregnancy complications, in support of a lawsuit challenging the proposed dismantling of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)’s Division of Reproductive Health (DRH). The brief, also filed on behalf of four organizations that seek to address maternal and infant mortality and improve maternal outcomes, illustrates through personal stories the critical need for federal systems that work to prevent maternal deaths.
The lawsuit was filed in federal court in Rhode Island in May 2025 by 19 states and the District of Columbia. The suit challenges the proposed reorganization of HHS that would eliminate DRH, a division which, the amicus brief notes, “provides essential funding and technical support to help states combat maternal mortality, improve the quality of healthcare for infants and mothers, and systematize the collection and analysis of data on maternal and infant health.” DRH also provides “critical financial and logistical support to help [Maternal Mortality Review Committees (MMRC)],” which are organized in every state and designed to convene to review pregnancy-related deaths. The court has preliminarily halted the dismantling of the agency, but the federal government has moved to dismiss the lawsuit on various grounds.
One of the three stories detailed in the brief is about Dr. Shalon Irving, a Georgia epidemiologist who passed away from complications of high blood pressure three weeks after giving birth, after her health concerns were dismissed multiple times by doctors. The brief connects Shalon’s story to the critical role DRH plays in supporting MMRCs:
"Wanda [Shalon’s mother] knows studying maternal mortality cases like Shalon’s is crucial to preventing them. According to the Georgia MMRC, 87% of pregnancy-related deaths in the state from 2015–2017—which covers the time of Shalon’s death—were preventable. Empowering MMRCs to understand the causes of pregnancy-related deaths and develop interventions is a key step in addressing maternal mortality."
The brief supports the plaintiffs’ objections to dismissing the case with the goal of trying to ensure that the federal government does not dismantle this critical support for maternal health.
Background information on the case can be found here.