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Mississippi mothers and babies are dying. One man and his 87% male House are blocking help.

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Mississippi mothers and babies are dying. One man and his 87% male House are blocking help.

by Adam Ganucheau, Mississippi Today
January 23, 2023

Note: This editorial was first published in Mississippi Today’s weekly legislative newsletter.Subscribe to our free newsletterfor exclusive early access to legislative analyses and up-to-date information about what’s happening under the Capitol dome.

Mississippi babies are more likely to die before their first birthday than infants anywhere else in the country. Mississippi has the highest preterm birth rate and the lowest birth weight rate in America, and one of every seven babies born here are preterm. Black babies are twice as likely to die as their white counterparts in Mississippi.

Mothers who give birth in Mississippi are more likely to die here than in 45 other states, with a pregnancy-related mortality rate nearly double the national average. A whopping 86% of pregnancy-related deaths occur postpartum, including 37% after six weeks. Black women are three times likelier than white women to die of a pregnancy-related cause.

These numbers are made worse because of the state’s high rates of poverty and uninsured people. Across Mississippi, about 65% of babies are born to mothers on Medicaid. Because of lag times in getting approved for coverage and a 60-day cutoff of postpartum care coverage, mothers often do not receive the prenatal and postpartum care they need — care that could prevent major problems.

Mississippi physicians, economists, mothers and children, and now a Republican appointed board of advisers all agree that lawmakers should make a single decision to save countless lives: extend Medicaid coverage from 60 days post-birth to one year. It would cost the state an estimated $7 million per year, a drop in the bucket as lawmakers sit on a record cash reserve of $3.9 billion.

But dismal statistics, expert testimony, sobering pleas of affected mothers, and clear life-saving benefits of extension be damned — one man, Speaker of the House Philip Gunn, is blocking it.

“I don’t see the advantage of doing the postpartum thing,” Gunn told reporters in December, saying he will only do it if the Mississippi Division of Medicaid recommends it. A spokesman for the state’s Medicaid department led by Drew Snyder, an appointee of Gov. Tate Reeves, told lawmakers in December the agency would not recommend for or against postpartum coverage.

“(Medicaid leaders) have not called me and told me that I’m wrong on that,” Gunn said.

Last year, a bill to extend postpartum coverage to 12 months had some serious momentum after a vast majority of senators voted to pass it. Senate Republicans, including the chamber’s president, Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann, called it “a no-brainer.”

But Gunn unabashedly killed it when it got to his chamber. He publicly claimed he had not seen data or been part of discussions showing that the extension would save lives. But that was not true, Mississippi Today reported. Just weeks earlier, five of the state’s major medical associations penned a letter to Gunn laying out the relevant data and directly stating that extending the program would save lives.

READ MORE: Doctors asked Speaker Philip Gunn to extend health coverage for moms and babies. Then he blocked it.

Gunn has also referenced his long-standing opposition to broader Medicaid expansion in defense of his decision to block the postpartum extension. That topic, long contentious in Mississippi and in other Republican-controlled states, is rife with its own distracting narratives, and health experts have implored lawmakers to keep the two separate issues separate. But that hasn’t stopped Gunn from playing that political card at every turn.

Looking around the House chamber, it quickly becomes apparent how Gunn could comfortably justify his decision to kill a bill that most directly affects Mississippi women and why there hasn’t been an uprising of lawmakers pleading with him to change his mind. In the chamber Gunn leads, just 15 members out of 120 current members (13%) are women. Just three of the 47 House committees of which Gunn appoints leaders are chaired by women.

The Senate’s statistics are better, but not by much. Just 10 senators out of 52 total (19%) are women. Hosemann has appointed six women to chair committees out of 44 total Senate committees.

In a state where 51% of the population is made up of women, just 15% of the entire state Legislature is made up of women. And with so few women in leadership positions, it’s tough to see a change in policy affecting women happening soon.

If you’re keeping track at home, here’s what has to happen to pass a widely supported and affordable plan to save or improve the lives of countless Mississippi mothers and their children: A majority of a group of 105 powerful men has to sign off, a majority of a group of 42 powerful men has to sign off, then a powerful man has to get the go-ahead from another powerful man, who likely has to get the blessing from his boss who is — you guessed it! — another powerful man.

Some are hoping a recommendation made last week by a committee of appointees from Reeves, Hosemann and Gunn himself could spur action on postpartum coverage. The 11-member Mississippi Medical Care Advisory Committee unanimously voted to recommend that the Legislature extend postpartum Medicaid coverage for new mothers from 60 days to 12 months.

Several proponents of the bill regularly note that Gov. Reeves could bypass the Legislature altogether and extend postpartum coverage himself with an executive order. But Reeves, who has long decried expansion of any federal Medicaid program, has given no indication that he supports the policy.

But in the Legislature, there’s always a chance. Several bills in both the Senate and the House have already been filed this session. Senate leaders, who spent the fall studying how to improve the lives of Mississippi women and children, vow to again pass the bill this session and send it to the House.

Notably, one of the 15 women in the House — a member of Gunn’s own Republican caucus — authored a postpartum extension bill and is publicly backing it.

“As a woman and as a mother, I couldn’t let this issue pass without advocating it and really trying to push it forward,” Rep. Missy McGee, a Hattiesburg Republican, told Mississippi Today last week. She said she supports extending the postpartum coverage to 12 months based on what she’s heard from health experts — including pediatricians, neonatologists and emergency medicine doctors from her district — and based on her experiences as a woman and a mother.

But if Gunn, the man who single-handedly controls every piece of legislation that comes through the House, continues to resist the proposal, McGee’s perspective may not mean a thing in the end.

Meanwhile, real Mississippi mothers and children across the state are suffering and could profoundly benefit from a little more help from their speaker and their government.

READ MORE: After lawmakers choose not to extend postpartum Medicaid, six Mississippi moms speak out

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

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Mississippi Today

1964: Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party was formed

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April 26, 2025

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mississippitoday.org – @MSTODAYnews – 2025-04-26 07:00:00

by Jerry Mitchell, Mississippi Today
April 26, 2025

April 26, 1964

Aaron Henry testifies before the Credentials Committee at the 1964 Democratic National Convention.

Civil rights activists started the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party to challenge the state’s all-white regular delegation to the Democratic National Convention. 

The regulars had already adopted this resolution: “We oppose, condemn and deplore the Civil Rights Act of 1964 … We believe in separation of the races in all phases of our society. It is our belief that the separation of the races is necessary for the peace and tranquility of all the people of Mississippi, and the continuing good relationship which has existed over the years.” 

In reality, Black Mississippians had been victims of intimidation, harassment and violence for daring to try and vote as well as laws passed to disenfranchise them. As a result, by 1964, only 6% of Black Mississippians were permitted to vote. A year earlier, activists had run a mock election in which thousands of Black Mississippians showed they would vote if given an opportunity. 

In August 1964, the Freedom Party decided to challenge the all-white delegation, saying they had been illegally elected in a segregated process and had no intention of supporting President Lyndon B. Johnson in the November election. 

The prediction proved true, with white Mississippi Democrats overwhelmingly supporting Republican candidate Barry Goldwater, who opposed the Civil Rights Act. While the activists fell short of replacing the regulars, their courageous stand led to changes in both parties.

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

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Mississippi River flooding Vicksburg, expected to crest on Monday

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April 25, 2025

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mississippitoday.org – @alxrzr – 2025-04-25 16:04:00

by Alex Rozier, Mississippi Today
April 25, 2025

Warren County Emergency Management Director John Elfer said Friday floodwaters from the Mississippi River, which have reached homes in and around Vicksburg, will likely persist until early May. Elfer estimated there areabout 15 to 20 roads underwater in the area.

A truck sits in high water after the owner parked, then boated to his residence on Chickasaw Road in Vicksburg as a rising Mississippi River causes backwater flooding, Friday, April 25, 2025.

“We’re about half a foot (on the river gauge) from a major flood,” he said. “But we don’t think it’s going to be like in 2011, so we can kind of manage this.”

The National Weather projects the river to crest at 49.5 feet on Monday, making it the highest peak at the Vicksburg gauge since 2020. Elfer said some residents in north Vicksburg — including at the Ford Subdivision as well as near Chickasaw Road and Hutson Street — are having to take boats to get home, adding that those who live on the unprotected side of the levee are generally prepared for flooding.

A rising Mississippi River causing backwater flooding near Chickasaw Road in Vicksburg, Friday, April 25, 2025.
Old tires aligned a backyard as a deterrent to rising water north of Vicksburg along U.S. 61, Friday, April 25, 2025.
As the Mississippi River rises, backwater flooding creeps towards a home located on Falk Steel Road in Vicksburg, Friday, April 25, 2025.

“There are a few (inundated homes), but we’ve mitigated a lot of them,” he said. “Some of the structures have been torn down or raised. There are a few people that still live on the wet side of the levee, but they kind of know what to expect. So we’re not too concerned with that.”

The river first reached flood stage in the city — 43 feet — on April 14. State officials closed Highway 465, which connects the Eagle Lake community just north of Vicksburg to Highway 61, last Friday.

Flood waters along Kings Point Road in Vicksburg, Friday, April 25, 2025.

Elfer said the areas impacted are mostly residential and he didn’t believe any businesses have been affected, emphasizing that downtown Vicksburg is still safe for visitors. He said Warren County has worked with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency to secure pumps and barriers.

“Everybody thus far has been very cooperative,” he said. “We continue to tell people stay out of the flood areas, don’t drive around barricades and don’t drive around road close signs. Not only is it illegal, it’s dangerous.”

NWS projects the river to stay at flood stage in Vicksburg until May 6. The river reached its record crest of 57.1 feet in 2011.

The boat launch area is closed and shored up on Levee Street in Vicksburg as the Mississippi River rises, Friday, April 25, 2025.
The boat launch area (right) is closed and under water on Levee Street in Vicksburg as the Mississippi River rises, Friday, April 25, 2025.
City of Vicksburg workers shore up the bank along Levee Street as the Mississippi River rises, Friday, April 25, 2025.
The old pedestrian bridge spanning the Mississippi River in Vicksburg, Friday, April 25, 2025.

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

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Mississippi Today

With domestic violence law, victims ‘will be a number with a purpose,’ mother says

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22 hours ago

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April 25, 2025

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mississippitoday.org – @MSTODAYnews – 2025-04-25 15:07:00

by Mina Corpuz, Mississippi Today
April 25, 2025

Joslin Napier. Carlos Collins. Bailey Mae Reed. 

They are among Mississippi domestic violence homicide victims whose family members carried their photos as the governor signed a bill that will establish a board to study such deaths and how to prevent them. 

Tara Gandy, who lost her daughter Napier in Waynesboro in 2022, said it’s a moment she plans to tell her 5-year-old grandson about when he is old enough. Napier’s presence, in spirit, at the bill signing can be another way for her grandson to feel proud of his mother. 

“(The board) will allow for my daughter and those who have already lost their lives to domestic violence … to no longer be just a number,” Gandy said. “They will be a number with a purpose.” 

Family members at the April 15 private bill signing included Ashla Hudson, whose son Collins, died last year in Jackson. Grandparents Mary and Charles Reed and brother Colby Kernell attended the event in honor of Bailey Mae Reed, who died in Oxford in 2023. 

Joining them were staff and board members from the Mississippi Coalition Against Domestic Violence, the statewide group that supports shelters and advocated for the passage of Senate Bill 2886 to form a Domestic Violence Facility Review Board. 

The law will go into effect July 1, and the coalition hopes to partner with elected officials who will make recommendations for members to serve on the board. The coalition wants to see appointees who have frontline experience with domestic violence survivors, said Luis Montgomery, public policy specialist for the coalition. 

A spokesperson from Gov. Tate Reeves’ office did not respond to a request for comment Friday.

Establishment of the board would make Mississippi the 45th state to review domestic violence fatalities. 

Montgomery has worked on passing a review board bill since December 2023. After an unsuccessful effort in 2024, the coalition worked to build support and educate people about the need for such a board. 

In the recent legislative session, there were House and Senate versions of the bill that unanimously passed their respective chambers. Authors of the bills are from both political parties. 

The review board is tasked with reviewing a variety of documents to learn about the lead up and circumstances in which people died in domestic violence-related fatalities, near fatalities and suicides – records that can include police records, court documents, medical records and more. 

From each review, trends will emerge and that information can be used for the board to make recommendations to lawmakers about how to prevent domestic violence deaths. 

“This is coming at a really great time because we can really get proactive,” Montgomery said. 

Without a board and data collection, advocates say it is difficult to know how many people have died or been injured in domestic-violence related incidents.

A Mississippi Today analysis found at least 300 people, including victims, abusers and collateral victims, died from domestic violence between 2020 and 2024. That analysis came from reviewing local news stories, the Gun Violence Archive, the National Gun Violence Memorial, law enforcement reports and court documents. 

Some recent cases the board could review are the deaths of Collins, Napier and Reed. 

In court records, prosecutors wrote that Napier, 24, faced increased violence after ending a relationship with Chance Fabian Jones. She took action, including purchasing a firearm and filing for a protective order against Jones.

Jones’s trial is set for May 12 in Wayne County. His indictment for capital murder came on the first anniversary of her death, according to court records. 

Collins, 25, worked as a nurse and was from Yazoo City. His ex-boyfriend Marcus Johnson has been indicted for capital murder and shooting into Collins’ apartment. Family members say Collins had filed several restraining orders against Johnson. 

Johnson was denied bond and remains in jail. His trial is scheduled for July 28 in Hinds County.  

He was a Jackson police officer for eight months in 2013. Johnson was separated from the department pending disciplinary action leading up to immediate termination, but he resigned before he was fired, Jackson police confirmed to local media. 

Reed, 21, was born and raised in Michigan and moved to Water Valley to live with her grandparents and help care for her cousin, according to her obituary. 

Kylan Jacques Phillips was charged with first degree murder for beating Reed, according to court records. In February, the court ordered him to undergo a mental evaluation to determine if he is competent to stand trial, according to court documents. 

At the bill signing, Gandy said it was bittersweet and an honor to meet the families of other domestic violence homicide victims.

“We were there knowing we are not alone, we can travel this road together and hopefully find ways to prevent and bring more awareness about domestic violence,” she said.

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

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