HARRISBURG – The Keystone State would conduct a new public awareness campaign to get more fathers involved in the prenatal care and birthing process under a bill sponsored by Allegheny County Rep. Aerion Abney that passed the PA House with bipartisan support. House Bill 1212, called the PA Dads Matter Act, directs the PA Department of Health to conduct the campaign. The measure was introduced to improve birthing outcomes and confront the staggering rate of black maternal mortality and morbidity in PA. Abney said, “A dad’s involvement can make an enormous difference in a healthy pregnancy and birth.”Abney, the father of two sons, modeled the bill after bipartisan federal legislation from Democrat Georgia Sen. Raphael Warnock and former Republican Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida. The bill moves to the PA Senate.
REP. AERION ABNEY