A group of eleven prominent US Senators has formally written to Donald Trump and Robert F. Kennedy, urging the removal of a federal website, Moms.gov, which they contend promotes anti-abortion facilities using government resources. The website, launched by the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on Mother’s Day, is described by the administration as a resource for “new and expecting mothers” offering guidance and information to support maternal and family wellbeing.
However, in their letter, the senators – including figures such as Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, and Chuck Schumer – sharply criticised the site. They argue that Moms.gov directs pregnant individuals towards “unregulated and often non-medical anti-abortion facilities known as crisis pregnancy centres (CPCs)”. This practice, they state, raises “profound concerns about the health, safety and privacy” of those accessing the site, particularly in the wake of increasing restrictions on reproductive rights in the US.
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) defines CPCs as facilities that present themselves as legitimate reproductive healthcare clinics but primarily aim to deter individuals from accessing certain types of reproductive healthcare, including abortion and even contraceptive options. ACOG further notes that staff at these often unregulated facilities have no legal obligation to provide accurate information and are not bound by HIPAA or required to maintain client confidentiality.
The senators’ concerns are amplified by the context of the US Supreme Court's decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, which rescinded the constitutional right to abortion. This ruling has led to 21 states implementing bans or severe restrictions on abortion access, significantly impacting millions of people. The lawmakers assert that rather than providing concrete resources to protect the health and safety of pregnant women, the Trump administration is utilising Moms.gov to highlight anti-abortion CPCs.
The letter explicitly states that “Moms.gov is not about promoting women’s health – it is an attempt to use HHS resources to further strip women of their rights and privacy”. The senators have called for the immediate removal of the pregnancy centre link from Moms.gov and a halt to using federal resources to direct individuals to anti-abortion crisis pregnancy centres. They have also requested detailed information regarding the website's creation and operation.
While HHS has not yet commented on the matter, a White House spokesperson, Allison Schuster, defended Moms.gov as a “comprehensive, one-stop shop for information on federal resources for maternal and infant health”. Schuster dismissed the senators’ concerns, stating that “only Far-Left lunatics could take issue with expanding access to life-saving resources for expectant mothers”, and reiterated the administration’s commitment to “Making America Healthy again”.
Source: HuffPost, The Guardian, American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), Government Accountability Office (GAO)