Melanie Blocker Stokes MOTHERS Act Passes House
Yesterday, March 30th, 2009, the early evening hours, Congressman Bobby Rush succeeded in gaining nearly unanimous consensus among our Congressional leaders to pass The Melanie Blocker Stokes MOTHERS Act. In a vote of 391 – 8, your representatives overwhelming cast their votes in favor of America’s mothers and moved the bill closer to reality.
Please join me in congratulating Congressman Bobby L. Rush for this historic achievement for America’s mothers and Melanie Blocker Stokes.
Here is the statement read by Congressman Rush on the House floor, yesterday evening which resulted in the passage of this legislation:
Floor Statement
Congressman Bobby L. Rush
H. R. 20 the Melanie Blocker Stokes Mom’s Opportunity to Access Health, Education, Research and Support for Postpartum Depression Act of 2009
Monday March 30, 2009
Madame Speaker, today I rise in strong support of the Melanie Blocker Stokes Mom's Opportunity to Access Health, Education, Research, and Support for Postpartum Depression Act of 2009.
I would like to thank Chairman Waxman, Ranking Member Barton, my colleague Congressman Frank Pallone, and the Members of the Energy and Commerce Committee who unanimously supported this legislation’s passage out of the committee.
After eight long years, today marks an important step forward in the journey for Congress to fully recognize postpartum depression as a national women’s health priority.
This bill comes to the floor today with strong, bipartisan support. No longer will postpartum depression be dismissed as mere “baby blues.”
Madame Speaker, today, 60 to 80 percent of new mothers experience symptoms of postpartum depression while the more serious condition, postpartum psychosis, affects up to 20 percent of women who have recently given birth. Experts in the field of women’s health like Susan Stone, Chair of the President’s Advisory Council of Postpartum Support International, says that these statistics do not include mothers whose babies are stillborn, who miscarry, or who are vulnerable to these devastating disorders which raises those at risk into the millions.
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