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119th CONGRESS
2d Session |
To amend section 511 of the Social Security Act to provide a resource directory and more opportunities for mothers to succeed.
Mrs. Fischbach (for herself, Mr. Weber of Texas, Mrs. Hinson, Mr. Feenstra, Ms. Tenney, Mr. McGuire, Mrs. Cammack, Mr. Kelly of Pennsylvania, Mr. Harris of Maryland, and Mr. Finstad) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
To amend section 511 of the Social Security Act to provide a resource directory and more opportunities for mothers to succeed.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
This Act may be cited as the “Empowering Moms Act”.
Section 511 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 711) is amended by adding at the end the following:
“(m) Resource directory for moms.—
“(1) UPDATING OF MOMS.GOV WEBSITE.—
“(A) WEBSITE.—Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this subsection, the Secretary shall update the governmental website, entitled ‘moms.gov’. The Secretary may not delegate implementation or administration of the website below the level of the Office of the Secretary. The website shall include the following:
“(i) A clearinghouse of relevant resources available for pregnant and postpartum women, and women parenting young children.
“(ii) A series of questions through which a user is able to generate a list of relevant resources of interest within the user’s ZIP Code.
“(iii) A means to direct the user to identify whether to list the relevant resources of interest that are available online or within 1, 5, 10, 50, and 100 miles of the user.
“(iv) A mechanism for users to take an assessment through the website and provide consent to use the user’s contact information, which the Secretary may use to conduct outreach via phone or email to follow up with users on additional resources that would be helpful for the users to review.
“(B) RESOURCE LIST AGGREGATION.—
“(i) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall invite each State to provide recommendations of relevant resources referred to in subparagraph (A)(iii) for such State.
“(ii) CRITERIA FOR MAKING RECOMMENDATIONS.—The Secretary shall develop criteria to provide to the States to determine whether resources recommended as described in clause (i) should appear on the website. Such criteria shall include the requirement that the relevant resource is not a prohibited entity.
“(I) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall provide grants to States to establish or support a system that—
“(aa) aggregates relevant resources referred to in subparagraph (A)(iii), in accordance with the criteria developed under clause (ii) of this subparagraph; and
“(bb) may be coordinated, to the extent determined appropriate by the State, by a statewide, regionally-based, or community-based public or private entity.
“(II) APPLICATIONS.—To be eligible to receive a grant under subclause (I), a State shall submit an application to the Secretary at such time, in such manner, and containing such information as the Secretary may require, including a plan for outreach and awareness activities, and a list of relevant resources that would be included in the State system supported by the grant.
“(C) PROHIBITION REGARDING CERTAIN ENTITIES.—Relevant resources listed on the website, and any additional resources promoted by the Secretary, may not include any resource offered by a prohibited entity. No prohibited entity may receive a grant provided under subparagraph (B)(iii).
“(D) SERVICES IN DIFFERENT LANGUAGES.—The Secretary shall ensure that the website provides the widest possible access to services for families who speak languages other than English.
“(i) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the date on which the website is updated under this paragraph, the Secretary shall submit to Congress a report on—
“(I) the traffic of the website;
“(II) user feedback on the accessibility and helpfulness of the website in tailoring to the user’s needs;
“(III) insights on gaps in relevant resources with respect to services for pregnant and postpartum women, or women parenting young children;
“(IV) suggestions on how to improve user experience and accessibility based on user feedback and missing resources that would be helpful to include in future updates; and
“(V) certification that no prohibited entities are listed as a relevant resource or are in receipt of a grant under subparagraph (B)(iii).
“(ii) CONFIDENTIALITY.—The report under clause (i) shall not include any personal identifying information regarding individuals who have used the website.
“(F) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—To carry out this paragraph, there are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be necessary for each of fiscal years 2027 through 2032.
“(G) DEFINITIONS.—In this paragraph:
“(i) PROHIBITED ENTITY.—The term ‘prohibited entity’ means an entity, including any affiliate, subsidiary, successor, and clinic of the entity, that—
“(I) is an organization described in section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and exempt from tax under section 501(a) of such Code;
“(II) is an essential community provider described in section 156.235 of title 45, Code of Federal Regulations (as in effect on the date of the enactment of this Act), that is primarily engaged in family planning services, reproductive health, and related medical care; and
“(III) provides for abortions, other than an abortion—
“(aa) if the pregnancy is the result of an act of rape or incest; or
“(bb) in the case where a woman suffers from a physical disorder, physical injury, or physical illness, including a life-endangering physical condition caused by, or arising from, the pregnancy itself, that would, as certified by a physician, place the woman in danger of death unless an abortion is performed.
“(ii) RELEVANT RESOURCES.—The term ‘relevant resources’ means the Federal, State, local governmental, and private resources that serve pregnant and postpartum women, or women parenting young children in the categories of the following topics:
“(I) Mentorship opportunities, including pregnancy and parenting help and case management resources.
“(II) Health and well-being services, including women’s medical services such as obstetrical and gynecological support services for women, abortion pill reversal, breastfeeding, general health services, primary care, and dental care.
“(III) Financial assistance, work opportunities, nutrition assistance, childcare, and education opportunities for parents.
“(IV) Material or legal support, including transportation, food, nutrition, clothing, household goods, baby supplies, housing, shelters, maternity homes, tax preparation, legal support for child support, family leave, breastfeeding protections, and custody issues.
“(V) Recovery and mental health services, including services with respect to addiction or suicide intervention, intimate partner violence, sexual assault, rape, sex trafficking, and counseling for women and families surrounding unexpected loss of a child.
“(VI) Prenatal diagnostic services, including disability support organizations, medical interventions for a baby, perinatal hospice resources, pregnancy and infant loss support, and literature on pregnancy wellness.
“(VII) Healing and support services for abortion survivors and their families.
“(VIII) Services providing childcare, adoption, foster care, and short term childcare services and resources.
“(IX) Comprehensive information on alternatives to abortion.
“(X) Information about abortion risks, including complications and failures.
“(XI) Links to information on child development from moment of conception.
“(2) LIST OF FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES AVAILABLE TO PREGNANCY SUPPORT CENTERS.—The Secretary shall compile and maintain on the website a publicly available list of Federal funding opportunities available to nonprofit and health care entities for pregnancy support services that offer or provide the relevant resources (as defined in paragraph (1)(G)).”.