To celebrate Mother’s Day, the Trump administration launched the website moms.gov, presenting it as an effort to provide resources for new and expectant mothers. The site’s stated mission is “ensuring the well-being of mothers and the health of American families.” Information on the website ranges from details about breastfeeding to maternal mental health and nutrition — and directs women to crisis pregnancy centers, which often seek to dissuade women from choosing abortion.
Trump has long attempted to position himself as a family-friendly president. At a Women’s History Month event, President Donald Trump highlighted his record on women’s health, including support for in vitro fertilization, saying he’ll one day be known as the “fertilization president.” At the same time, his administration’s proposal for Title X clinics would elevate a practice that would discourage IVF.
The Trump administration has promoted the website as a “first-of-its-kind” resource for American families. But family-focused advocates tell Salon that moms.gov is yet another moment in the Trump presidency where the administration is failing to provide real support to American families. Instead, the website is part of a bigger agenda that truly doesn’t support American women and families.
“Markedly missing from moms.gov is the plan for a federally-protected paid leave program, affordable and accessible childcare and meaningful, measurable investments to drastically improve maternal health outcomes in this country,” Erin Erenberg, Chamber of Mothers CEO and co-founder, told Salon. “Decades of data have shown that these are the policies moms need to be well.”
Indeed, the United States is the only high-income country, and one of only a few countries in the world, without a national paid family leave policy. While the U.S. has the Family and Medical Leave Act, research shows low-income workers are less likely to benefit. Some states have taken matters into their own hands by implementing a mandatory paid family leave policy, but not all.
“Decades of data have shown that these are the policies moms need to be well.”
Notably, studies have shown that paid paternity leave is associated with a reduced risk of maternal postpartum health complications and an increased rate of infants receiving their necessary vaccines on time. On moms.gov, there is no mention of paid maternity leave — or programs like Family and Medical Leave Act, the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, or the Pregnancy Discrimination Act. The only mention of vaccines is a page emphasizing that state exemptions, such as for religious reasons, must be honored.
“We know that there is a conservative movement to push women out of the workforce and out of public life, and this website feeds into that agenda,” Emily Martin, chief program officer at the National Women’s Law Center, told Salon. “It extensively warns about the risks of working while pregnant while failing to provide any information about pregnant workers’ legal rights and protections.”
As Martin mentioned, moms.gov links to a CDC page that warns “workplace exposures” could affect the health of “unborn children.”
Another major red flag about the website, advocates say, is that the website directs people to unregulated pregnancy clinics. In addition to the word abortion not being mentioned directly on the website, moms.gov directs people to pregnancy centers via Optionline, which is run by Heartbeat International, a faith-based organization that explicitly says it does not “promote abortion, abortifacients or contraceptives.” The link to these pregnancy centers on the website is situated right next to Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs), which are community health centers.
Start your day with essential news from Salon.
Sign up for our free morning newsletter, Crash Course.
“By placing unregulated pregnancy clinics (UPCs) alongside federally qualified health centers on a federal .gov platform, the Trump administration is creating a dangerous false equivalency,” Mika Matsuno, the director of research and strategy at Reproductive Health and Freedom Watch, told Salon. “FQHCs are healthcare providers operating under rigorous federal oversight, HIPAA obligations, quality standards, and clinical accountability. UPCs generally are not.”
Martin, from the National Women’s Law Center, said that by referring women to these UPCs, the administration is promoting an “anti-abortion agenda.” It also seems to do more fear-mongering than providing helpful information.
“Moms.gov is more interested in scaring pregnant women away from taking Tylenol than it is in providing genuinely useful information, such as how to find affordable health coverage or explaining people’s right to prenatal care and lactation support without out-of-pocket costs under the Affordable Care Act,” Martin said.
Spring savings are here!
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. described moms.gov as an opportunity for the administration to strengthen its commitment to American families.
“By equipping mothers and fathers with the resources and information they need to build healthy, prosperous lives,” Kennedy said in a government press release about the website, emphasizing that it can help mothers with “unexpected pregnancies.”
“This is how you Make America Healthy Again,” Kennedy said. But Martin said it is not a resource for families.
“It’s a propaganda tool for this administration’s dangerous anti-abortion, anti-woman agenda,” Martin said. “The administration likely hoped that this website would allow it to put a positive, pro-family spin on its backwards agenda, but instead, moms.gov makes clear how dark its vision for women actually is.”
Read more
about public health
