State Rep. Shelia Stubbs Is Fighting for Systemic Change: Advocating for Women’s Health
Since 2021, State Representative Shelia Stubbs has been introducing legislation aimed at reducing child-maternal health disparities in Wisconsin.
by Jonathan Gramling
As I await to take her photo in front of the State Capitol, Rep. Shelia Stubbs arrives walking quickly. Earlier that afternoon she had been with a parishioner of her church as a member of her birthing team. Stubbs knows the crisis in Black child-maternal morbidity that has plagued the state of Wisconsin for who knows how long.
“I raised my daughter and I gave birth to my child here in the state with the highest Black infant mortality rate in the nation,” Stubbs said. “I have spent 24 years of my career addressing these inequities. And unfortunately, our numbers aren’t moving the way that we want them to. Through my work addressing racial disparities, I’ve learned that Black moms and Brown moms are three times more likely to die or experience disability as a result of pregnancy and child birth. And Black infants are three times more likely to die before they reach age one in Wisconsin. That is just unacceptable on so many levels. To me, it’s an emergency. And the urgency is a call to action.”
Stubbs has been trying to do something about it. Since October 12, 2021, she has been introducing and reintroducing seven bills that together are called the Birth Equity Act.
According to a press release that Stubbs’ office had issued, “the Birth Equity Act is a bold and comprehensive bill package that will tangibly impact the lives of countless women and children in Wisconsin. By removing financial barriers, expanding coverage for services, and increasing access to care, we will give families of color the opportunity to thrive in our great state. The expansion of services will also include improved access to postpartum care, mental health care, dental health care, and doula services, all of which are evidenced to improve maternal and infant health outcomes.”
There was some bipartisan in passing one of the measures.
“We thought we could get one bill passed into law,” Stubbs said. “But we weren’t able to. That particular bill dealt with the use of tax exemption for breast-feeding equipment. So when I introduced the bill in 2021, we were able to have Senator Joan Ballweg sign on to the bill to make it bipartisan. We thought that the bill could get movement in both houses and get some hearings. But unfortunately that didn’t happen. There wasn’t any movement on any of the seven bills that are so critical to really addressing the Black infant mortality rate that exists in Wisconsin.”
But Stubbs keeps trying. She reintroduced the Birth Equity Act on February 26, 2026.
“I think it is really important to take steps forward to pass the Birth Equity Act in Wisconsin because we’re not only dismantling systems of oppression, but we are also building up systems of equity,” Stubbs said. “I just think that maternal health and infant health disparities indicate broader racial and economic inequities rooted in systems of oppression and discrimination. And I think it is important that we need to address the ongoing maternal and child health crises in Wisconsin that we know and in fact have the data to prove that it disproportionately harms communities of color. So I am excited about this work, the Birth Equity Act that we proposed. These bills are action policies that will help to improve the health outcomes of our children, our mothers, our families and our community. These bills will improve systems. And I think that is what we have to go back and work on: systems that are in place in the state of Wisconsin.”
Another bill that Stubbs introduced last year did receive some movement.
“I have the Missing and Murdered African American Women and Girls Taskforce Bill that did not get a hearing in the Assembly,” Stubbs said. “We still have time. Give the bill a hearing and get the bill passed on the floor. The bill did get a hearing on the Senate side. It passed unanimously in committee. So we are waiting for the bill to be placed on the Senate calendar so that the bill can be passed out of the Senate. There still is time to get things done across the state of Wisconsin to improve the health outcomes for Wisconsinites. We still have time. And I am willing to walk into that building and work with my colleagues to get more of our bills passed into law.”
While Stubbs and other legislators appear to be swimming upstream to get legislation passed, their work has achieved some results.
“The postpartum bill was signed by the governor,” Stubbs said. “We are so excited about that, finally getting Medicaid/ Medical Assistance postpartum coverage increased to one year for women across the state of Wisconsin. It’s just shameful that it has taken this long. I’ve been in the legislature for eight years. We definitely want to make sure that we can address health care in any way that we can, especially when we are talking about health care and health care for women. I signed onto that bill.”
The governor also signed into law “Gail’s Law,” named after a woman who died of breast cancer whose mammogram didn’t detect her cancer because of her higher breast tissue density and her insurance didn’t cover more expensive screenings. The bill mandates insurance coverage.
“I signed onto Gail’s Law,” Stubbs said. “We know that African American women’s and women of color’s breasts have more density. And so sometimes just a regular mammogram doesn’t get the density that they need. We need MRIs and other images to help the provider determine if a woman is cleared of breast cancer. We do know that men get breast cancer, but not at the level that women do. So finally to get that done is great. Women don’t have to choose between a mammogram and imaging over food or gas or medicine. It is better to do it in the preventative arena rather than on the back end of the health care system when it costs more money.”
And the governor just signed into law that expands the criteria for when Amber Alerts are issued for missing children.
“The bill expands the age limit to 12-years-old for a missing child to have an Amber Alert issued,” Stubbs said. “In the state of Wisconsin, we had it up to age 10. Prince McCree was killed in Milwaukee. He did not meet the criteria for an Amber Alert. Lily Peters in Chippewa Falls did not qualify for the Amber Alert based on her age. This extension of the bill that the Governor signed into law last year increases the age limit from age 10 to age 12. That would have covered Lily Peters at the time of her disappearance.”
And so while there have been some gains, there is much work left to be done.
“It is shameful in a state that I love and where I raise my child and you hear how many families have loved ones who have died. I will continue to be an advocate. I hope that my colleagues on the other side of the aisle will reach out to me. I don’t care who takes the credit. What I care about is getting the work done. We have to stop being reactive to the system in Wisconsin and it is time that we can be proactive to the needs of our families.”
The fight for health equity continues.