[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 688 Introduced in House (IH)]
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119th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 688
To require the Secretary of Health and Human Services to furnish
tailored information to expecting mothers, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
January 23, 2025
Ms. Mace introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Energy and Commerce
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To require the Secretary of Health and Human Services to furnish
tailored information to expecting mothers, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Standing with Moms Act''.
SEC. 2. AWARENESS FOR EXPECTING MOTHERS.
The Public Health Service Act is amended by adding at the end the
following:
``TITLE XXXIV--AWARENESS FOR EXPECTING MOTHERS
``SEC. 3401. WEBSITE AND PORTAL.
``(a) Website.--Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment
of this section, the Secretary shall publish a user-friendly public
website, life.gov, to provide a comprehensive list of Federal, State,
local governmental, and private resources available to pregnant women
including--
``(1) resources to mental health counseling, pregnancy
counseling, and other prepartum and postpartum services;
``(2) comprehensive information on alternatives to
abortion;
``(3) information about abortion risks, including
complications and failures; and
``(4) links to information on child development from moment
of conception.
``(b) Portal.--Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of
this section, the Secretary shall publish a portal on the public
website of the Department of Health and Human Services that--
``(1) through a series of questions, will furnish specific
tailored information to the user on what pregnancy-related
information they are looking for, such as--
``(A) Federal, State, local governmental, and
private resources that may be available to the woman
within her ZIP Code, including the resources specified
in subsection (c); and
``(B) risks related to abortion at all stages of
fetal gestation; and
``(2) provides for the submission of feedback on how user-
friendly and helpful the portal was in providing the tailored
information the user was seeking.
``(c) Resources.--The Federal, State, local governmental, and
private resources specified in this subsection are the following:
``(1) Mentorship opportunities, including pregnancy help
and case management resources.
``(2) 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.
``(3) Financial assistance, work opportunities, nutrition
assistance, childcare, and education opportunities.
``(4) 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.
``(5) 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.
``(6) 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.
``(7) Healing and support services for abortion survivors
and their families.
``(8) Services providing care for children, including
family planning education, adoption, foster care, and short-
term care resources.
``(d) Administration.--The Secretary may not delegate
implementation or administration of the portal established under
subsection (b) below the level of the Office of the Secretary.
``(e) Follow-Up.--The Secretary shall develop a plan under which--
``(1) the Secretary includes in the portal established
under subsection (b), a mechanism for users of the portal to
take an assessment through the portal and provide consent to
use the user's contact information;
``(2) the Secretary conducts outreach via phone or email to
follow up with users of the portal established under subsection
(b) on additional resources that would be helpful for the users
to review; and
``(3) upon the request of a user of the portal for specific
information, after learning of the additional resources through
the portal, agents of the Department of Health and Human
Services make every effort to furnish specific information to
such user in coordination with Federal, State, local
governmental, and private health care providers and resources.
``(f) Resource List Aggregation.--
``(1) In general.--Pursuant to criteria developed in
subsection (e)(2), each State shall provide recommendations of
State, local governmental, and private resources under
subsection (b)(1)(A) to include in the portal.
``(2) Criteria for making recommendations.--The Secretary
shall develop criteria to provide to the States to determine
whether resources recommended as described in paragraph (1) for
inclusion in the portal can appear in the portal. Such criteria
shall include the requirement that the resource provider is not
a prohibited entity and the requirement that the resource
provider has been engaged in providing services for a minimum
of 3 consecutive years.
``(3) Grant program.--
``(A) In general.--The Secretary may provide grants
to States to establish or support a system that
aggregates the resources described in subsection
(b)(1)(A), in accordance with the criteria developed
under paragraph (2), and that may be coordinated, to
the extent determined appropriate by the State, by a
statewide, regionally-based, or community-based public
entity or private nonprofit.
``(B) Applications.--To be eligible to receive a
grant under subparagraph (A), 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 service
providers that would be included in the State system
supported by the grant.
``(g) Maternal Mental Health Hotline.--The Secretary shall ensure
that the Maternal Mental Health Hotline of the Health Resources and
Services Administration--
``(1) disseminates information regarding, and linkages to,
the life.gov website and portal described in subsections (a)
and (b);
``(2) has the capacity to help families in every State and
community in the Nation; and
``(3) includes live chat features, 24 hours a day, to
connect individuals to the information the portal hosts.
``(h) Prohibition Regarding Certain Entities.--The resources listed
on the life.gov website, and made available through the portal and
hotline established under this section may not include any resource
offered by a prohibited entity.
``(i) Services in Different Languages.--The life.gov website and
hotline shall ensure the widest possible access to services for
families who speak languages other than English.
``(j) Reporting Requirements.--
``(1) In general.--Not later than 180 days after the date
on which the life.gov website and portal are established under
subsection (a), the Secretary shall submit to Congress a report
on--
``(A) the traffic of the website and the
interactive portal;
``(B) user feedback on the accessibility and
helpfulness of the website and interactive portal in
tailoring to the user's needs;
``(C) insights on gaps in Federal, State, local
governmental, and private programming with respect to
services for pregnant and postpartum women; and
``(D) 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.
``(2) Confidentiality.--The report under paragraph (1)
shall not include any personal identifying information
regarding individuals who have used the website or portal.
``(k) Definitions.--In this section:
``(1) Abortion.--The term `abortion' means the use or
prescription of any instrument, medicine, drug, or other
substance or device to intentionally--
``(A) kill the unborn child of a woman known to be
pregnant; or
``(B) prematurely terminate the pregnancy of a
woman known to be pregnant, with an intention other
than to--
``(i) increase the probability of a live
birth or of preserving the life or health of
the child after live birth; or
``(ii) remove a dead unborn child.
``(2) Born alive.--The term `born alive' has the meaning
given such term in section 8(b) of title 1, United States Code.
``(3) Prohibited entity.--The term `prohibited entity'
means an entity, including its affiliates, subsidiaries,
successors, and clinics that performs, induces, refers for, or
counsels in favor of abortions, or provides financial support
to any other organization that conducts such activities.
``(4) Unborn child.--The term `unborn child' means an
individual organism of the species homo sapiens, beginning at
fertilization, until the point of being born alive.''.
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