VILNIUS, LITHUANIA— An international human rights panel Wednesday passed a resolution authored by Congresswoman Gwen Moore (D-WI) calling for increased world cooperation to reduce maternal mortality.
“A mother’s death greatly impacts the ability of her young children to survive, and if they do survive, to receive an education. Her death detracts from family income, and virtually ensures a continued cycle of poverty for the children that are left behind,” Congresswoman Moore said.
Moore secured passage of the measure in the third day of the meeting of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe Parliamentary Assembly (OSCE PA) in Vilnius, Lithuania. The resolution will now be considered for inclusion in the Assembly’s final document to be known as the Vilnius Declaration, which will help set policy for the OSCE in the year ahead. Parliamentarians from the 56 participating OSCE countries will vote on the Declaration Friday.
By offering the resolution at the 18th Annual Session, Moore pushed the international body into uncharted territory – tackling an issue of women’s healthcare it had not dealt with in the past.
“We know these mothers are dying and we know there is more we can do,” Congresswoman Moore said. “It is not expensive to do the right thing. Modest resources spent efficiently can greatly reduce the rates of death for pregnant women and their unborn children. Pregnancy should not be a death sentence. A woman should not die giving life.”