Population Vulnerability and State Policy to Address Racial Health Inequity: The Intersection of Politics and Preterm Births in Health Equity Policy

This study investigates whether a state’s Black preterm birth rate prior to the COVID-19 pandemic is related to the policies a state adopted in the midst of the pandemic to try to increase health equity, controlling for the overall percentage of the African American population in the state and the governor’s partisan affiliation. Regression results find that the Black preterm birth rate and the state’s governor being affiliated with the Republican party have a statistically significant and negative relationship with equity policies associated with the governor. In another regression analysis, the percentage of the state’s population that is African American is positive and significant, while the partisan affiliation of the governor is no longer significant. This finding supports the theory that protecting members of marginalized populations during pregnancy does not greatly influence state policy but the proportion of the African American population may be influential in encouraging policy action.