| Congresswoman Emilia Sykes is taking a stand against Republicans’ continued efforts to deny access to reproductive health care. A
Leading a letter with over 80 members of Congress, Rep. Sykes is demanding answers from RFK Jr. on Republicans’ latest ploy, “Moms.gov”: a website that misleads pregnant women by directing them to anti-abortion clinics and extensively tracking their reproductive health information.
 “Moms.gov is duplicitous, a waste of government resources, and a thinly veiled attempt to push a far-right agenda onto people at a vulnerable time in their lives,” Sykes said in the letter.
Read more about the Congresswoman’s efforts:
Cleveland.com: More than 80 Dems led by Emilia Sykes demand answers about Trump website launched on Mother’s Day
- U.S. Rep. Emilia Sykes wants Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to answer questions from Congress about a new federal website that she says misleads pregnant women and puts their sensitive health information at risk.
- The Trump administration launched the Moms.gov website on Mother’s Day, May 10, billing it as a first-of-its-kind resource for new and expecting mothers. HHS said the site offers guidance on pregnancy centers, nutrition, breastfeeding, mental health, adoption and other topics.
- A statement from Kennedy said the new website will equip “mothers and fathers with the resources and information they need to build healthy, prosperous lives.”
- Sykes and more than 80 House Democrats disagreed with that assessment in a letter to Kennedy.
- The letter led by Sykes…said the website purports to be a resource to support the well-being of women and families “yet it deceives vulnerable people by sending them to anti-abortion centers, or so-called ‘crisis pregnancy centers,’ that are not real medical providers.”
- “Moms.gov is duplicitous, a waste of government resources, and a thinly veiled attempt to push a far-right agenda onto people at a vulnerable time in their lives,” said the letter.
- The Democratic lawmakers took particular aim at the site’s “Find Pregnancy Centers Near You” feature, which they say directs users to Option Line, a 24/7 contact center managed by Heartbeat International. The letter describes Heartbeat International as a nationwide anti-abortion organization and network of more than 1,000 crisis pregnancy centers whose stated mission is to make abortion “unwanted today and unthinkable for future generations.”
- The lawmakers also raised alarms about Heartbeat International’s data collection practices. According to the letter, the organization developed a platform called “Next Level Content Management Solution” that the lawmakers say collects extensive personal and reproductive health information, including names, addresses, pregnancy status, sexual histories and ultrasound data. The letter says the system includes a “Client Risk Tracker” designed to keep affiliated crisis pregnancy centers informed about an individual’s perceived “risk level” for obtaining an abortion.
- The House Democrats posed 20 detailed questions to Kennedy, asking among other things who was involved in developing the site, whether licensed medical providers were considered for its directory, whether HHS considers “abortion pill reversal” to be an evidence-based medical intervention and whether any federal funding went to Heartbeat International or affiliated organizations in connection with the site.
- “Deciding whether or when to bear a child is a deeply personal decision that should be made by the patient and trusted health care providers using medically-accurate and comprehensive information, not by opponents of reproductive freedom,” the lawmakers wrote.
|
