The Kira Johnson Act seeks to combat maternal mortality and severe maternal morbidity, especially among Black pregnant and postpartum individuals and other underserved populations, by addressing systemic bias, racism, and discrimination within maternity care settings. It proposes a multi-faceted approach to improve maternal health outcomes and ensure respectful, culturally competent care for all. One key provision authorizes the Secretary of Health and Human Services to award grants to community-based organizations . These grants, totaling $100 million annually from fiscal years 2027 through 2031, will fund programs that advance maternal health equity, with a special focus on entities serving and led by communities with elevated rates of adverse maternal outcomes. Eligible programs include those addressing maternal mental health, social determinants of health, health literacy, perinatal health worker support, and midwifery practices. Another significant component establishes grants for respectful maternity care training , allocating $5 million annually for the same period. These programs are designed to reduce and prevent bias, racism, and discrimination among all maternity care employees, from front desk staff to healthcare professionals. Training will emphasize periodic sessions, implicit bias, cultural humility, antiracism, and trauma-informed care, including for emergency department staff. The bill also mandates the establishment of respectful maternity care compliance programs within hospitals and other birth settings. These programs will create mechanisms for patients, families, or perinatal health workers to report instances of racism or bias, ensure timely responses, and develop public strategies to reduce discrimination. Hospitals must routinely collect and publicly report patient experience data and submit annual reports to the Secretary, detailing deidentified demographic information and institutional changes made as a result of reported cases. Finally, the legislation calls for a study by the National Academies of Sciences on effective programs to reduce bias in maternity care, and a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report . The GAO report will annually assess the establishment and impact of these compliance programs, identify areas where they are not being implemented, and recommend improvements to ensure equitable and respectful maternal care nationwide.