Erased Twice: Federal Disinvestment Is Deepening AAPI Maternal and Reproductive Health Disparities

May 2026 marks the 35^th annual official Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month. There is much to celebrate: for generations, Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders have been core to U.S. society, currently comprising more than 25 million people — nearly 8% of the U.S. population — and continuing to grow. But there is also much work to be done to ensure AAPI communities have what they need to be healthy and thrive.

Despite encompassing more than 50 diverse ethnic groups, languages, migration histories, and cultures, AAPI communities are often treated as a monolith in health care delivery, health research, and policymaking — obscuring critical differences in health needs and outcomes, and worsening health disparities. This is particularly acute when it comes to maternal and reproductive health.

To make matters worse, the long-perpetuated “model minority” myth — the stereotype that Asian Americans are economically advantaged, highly educated, and generally healthy — has further erased the nuanced experiences of many AAPI communities, particularly low-income immigrants, refugees, and Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander populations. As a result, many health inequities within AAPI communities remain hidden and unaddressed.

This invisibility is dangerous on its own. But it is made far worse by an administration that is not merely failing to invest in data, research, and programs tailored for diverse communities — it is actively dismantling them. At a moment when AAPI maternal and reproductive health needs demand greater attention, federal policy is moving in the opposite direction.

Data Disaggregation is Critical — and Under Threat

Although AAPI women are reported to have lower maternal mortality rates than other racial groups, aggregated data masks major disparities between ethnic subgroups. In one study on maternal morbidity among AAPI women, the overall rate of maternal morbidity among women who identified as Asian or white was 14.5 per 1,000 live births. However, significant differences emerged within AAPI populations: maternal morbidity rates reached 31.2 per 1,000 live births among Asian Indian women, 21.8 among Chinese women, and 17.9 among Japanese women. Another study examining pregnancy outcomes among AAPI women in California found that Samoan, Guamanian, and Hmong women experienced higher rates of maternal health risk factors than Chinese and Korean women.

Without disaggregated data, vulnerable communities become statistically invisible, making it more difficult to direct funding, research, and targeted interventions where they are most needed. Compounding gaps in maternal health care and surveillance for AAPI women are barriers such as limited English proficiency, underrepresentation in clinical studies, immigration-related fears, and insufficient investment in AAPI health research.

Yet the Trump administration has eliminated the Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS), which tracked maternal health outcomes before, during, and after pregnancy, and has proposed eliminating the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities. These are not passive failures to collect better data — they are deliberate steps that will deepen AAPI communities’ statistical invisibility for years to come.

AAPI Women Have Unique Maternal and Reproductive Health Needs and Recent Cuts to Federal Programs Will Keep Them from Being Met

AAPI women, particularly those who are immigrants, already face significant barriers to reproductive health care: discrimination in health care settings, including from health care providers, language and cultural barriers, and stigma surrounding postpartum mental health care. One study on discrimination against female AAPI patients found that nearly one-third of respondents reported facing discrimination in medical settings.

Federal disinvestment will sharply worsen these conditions. Cuts to Title X — the primary federal program funding reproductive health services for uninsured and underinsured patients — directly threaten access to care for AAPI communities. In 2023, nearly 70,000 of Title X users identified as AAPI, and nearly 20% reported limited English proficiency, highlighting the importance of culturally and linguistically accessible care.

Additionally, the Trump administration has proposed cuts to the Special Projects of Regional and National Significance (SPRANS) program within the Title V Maternal and Child Health Services Block Grant, further undermining care for mothers and infants. Meanwhile, the 2025 Republican health care cuts enacted into law through H.R. 1 will introduce Medicaid work reporting requirements and more frequent eligibility renewals, making it harder for everyone, including AAPI individuals, to maintain coverage.

Moving Forward

As we mark AAPI Heritage Month, advocates and policymakers must reckon with the reality of the diverse health challenges facing AAPI communities. Advancing maternal and reproductive health equity will require swimming upstream against a current of active federal disinvestment.  We must prioritize:

• Improving local, state, and federal data disaggregation practices when collecting and reporting health data
• Protecting funding for federal maternal and reproductive health programs such as Title V and Title X
• Preserving minority health-focused agencies and expanding research on racial health equity
• Partnering directly with AAPI communities to better understand and co-develop culturally responsive, community informed solutions that address their diverse health needs

Most importantly, we must continue to uplift the voices and leadership of AAPI advocates and organizations that have long worked to advance health equity, including the Asian & Pacific Islander American Health Forum, National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum, and AAPI Data. Although AAPI Heritage Month offers an important opportunity to highlight these issues, the responsibility to improve health equity and ensure access to affordable, culturally responsive care must extend far beyond a single month.