New budget would cut CDC by 44 percent and “would be a travesty for the quality of women’s health care and maternal health”
Gov. Brian Kemp refused again today to weigh in on the Trump administration’s steep cuts and their negative impacts on Georgia. To date, the only time Kemp has gone on the record on the devastating cuts was when he staked his support for mass firings in February as “government rightsizing.”
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported a proposed budget that included another round of cuts at the agency which would slash the CDC base budget by up to 44 percent, significantly impacting funding for research on maternal health in particular. The announcement comes on the heels of Georgia’s Maternal Mortality Review Committee’s dismissal late last year under Kemp’s watch. When asked for a response on the discharge of the committee, his office “declined to comment.”
“As Governor, Brian Kemp spearheaded a near-total abortion ban that has led to multiple deaths, dismissed the Maternal Mortality Review Committee to review those deaths, and now is giving Trump free rein to cut life-saving maternal mortality research at the CDC,” said DPG spokesperson Alex Yerkey. “It’s abundantly clear that Kemp’s cowardice towards Trump is making Georgia an increasingly dangerous place for women during pregnancy, childbirth, and post-partum.”
According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, there were 141 pregnancy-related deaths in Georgia from 2020 to 2022. Maternal mortality is widely considered a bellwether for broader societal problems, most notably a general lack of health care access.