The Sinema-backed PREEMIE Reauthorization Act expands research, education, and intervention activities related to preterm or premature births
WASHINGTON – Arizona senior Senator Kyrsten Sinema cosponsored the PREEMIE Reauthorization Act – bipartisan legislation reauthorizing the PREEMIE Act of 2006 to strengthen research, education, and intervention activities related to preterm or premature births. The PREEMIE Act of 2006 is the only federal law dedicated to improving the research, prevention, and treatment of preterm births.
“Our bipartisan legislation protects the health and wellbeing of Arizona families by boosting efforts to better understand, prevent, and treat preterm or premature births,” said Sinema.
Preterm births are defined as birth before 37 weeks, which can lead to babies facing long-term health effects and developmental delays. Preterm births, along with low birth weights, make up the second leading cause of infant deaths.
The rates of preterm births in the United States have reached a 15-year high. In 2021, there were more than 383,000 preterm births in the United States, making up more than 10 percent of all live births. In Arizona, there were almost 8,000 preterm births in 2021, representing 10 percent of live births.
The Sinema-backed PREEMIE Reauthorization Act would: reauthorize the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC’s) preterm birth research and national data tracking efforts; reauthorize the Health Resources and Services Administration’s (HRSA’s) activities to promote healthy pregnancies and preventing preterm births; establish an Interagency Working Group to coordinate federal activities and programs related to preterm birth, infant mortality, and other adverse birth outcomes; and authorize new studies on the financial costs of premature births, the factors that impact preterm birth rates, and the gaps in existing public health programs that could prevent preterm births.