A piece of pro-life legislation has come over to the Senate and is now being considered in the House. It is called the MOMS bill, which stands for More Options for Maternal Support. It is a program that will offer state grant funds to non-profit organizations that support healthy pregnancies and childbirth instead of abortion, giving personalized support to pregnant women. This serves to advance the state’s goal of protecting and promoting life over death.
A number of these non-profit organizations, called pregnancy resource centers, already exist in the state and do an excellent job serving women in crisis pregnancies. So the state would be coming alongside those who want to participate to boost their mission.
Pregnancy support services to be provided include counseling, mentoring, nutrition education and services, child development education and health, life skills education, healthy parenting and family education and support, adoption education, child care assistance, housing, education, and employment assistance, information regarding health care benefits, medical information, health tests, screenings, and referral for medical care (not to include abortion), material support for pregnancy such as cribs, car seats, clothing, diapers, formula, and other safety devices.
The bill also extends postpartum coverage for women under Medicaid from 60 days to 12 months. This extension gives more support to women after the birth of their child and during the time they are adjusting to life as a parent.
This bill invests in women and their babies and helps set them up for success during those very important first years of life. I am hopeful we can get it passed before we adjourn for the year.
