04/16/2026
The fact the we have to create our own programs to feel protected says everything we need to know about the American maternal healthcare system, this is absolutely disgusting.
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Pasadena, California, has filed a discrimination lawsuit against the California Department of Public Health after being turned away from the state’s Black Infant Health program.
The program, which has been running since 1989, provides prenatal and postpartum support — including counseling, medical referrals, and family guidance — exclusively to Black mothers. Jimenez was told she was ineligible because neither she nor her child are Black.
She is being represented by the Pacific Legal Foundation and is arguing the program violates the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment and the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The Black Infant Health program was created in direct response to the well-documented racial health gap — Black women in the US are 3 to 4 times more likely to die in labor or from related complications than white women, and Black infants are twice as likely to die before their first birthday.
