Federal resource site for pregnant women systematically excludes abortion providers
H.R. 10356 — Empowering Moms Act · Filed by Michelle Fischbach (R-MN) · 11 cosponsors · Introduced Sep 14, 2026 · Reported out
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What it does
This bill amends the Social Security Act to require the federal government to create and maintain moms.gov, a searchable website directing pregnant women, postpartum women, and mothers of young children to local resources. States receive grants to aggregate and list resources in their areas. Critically, the bill excludes from the website any organization that provides abortion services (except in cases of rape, incest, or life-threatening pregnancy), and prohibits such organizations from receiving grants. The website will also list federal funding opportunities for pregnancy support centers.
Why we flagged it
The bill's operative mechanism is not simply creating a resource directory—it is systematically excluding a category of legal healthcare providers from a government-funded information platform based on their provision of abortion services. The exclusion is the bill's core function, not an incidental detail.
What the text implies
- The 'prohibited entity' definition captures not just abortion clinics but any 501(c)(3) nonprofit that is an 'essential community provider' engaged in family planning and reproductive health AND provides abortion (except in narrow circumstances). This sweeps in Planned Parenthood affiliates and similar organizations that provide contraception, STI testing, cancer screenings, and other non-abortion
- The bill requires the Secretary to certify that no prohibited entities are listed or receiving grants, creating a federal enforcement mechanism to police abortion-provider exclusion from state-level resource aggregation systems.
- By listing 'comprehensive information on alternatives to abortion' and 'abortion risks' as resource categories while excluding abortion providers, the website creates a one-sided information environment that does not reflect medical consensus on abortion safety or the full range of pregnancy options.
- The grant program incentivizes states to build resource systems that comply with the federal exclusion criteria, potentially pressuring state-level entities to adopt the same ideological filtering.
- Low-income pregnant women using the website will be directed to pregnancy support centers (which often do not provide medical care) and away from comprehensive reproductive health providers, potentially delaying access to prenatal care or abortion services.
Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.
Who it affects
The bill creates a government resource directory that systematically excludes abortion-providing organizations from listings and federal funding, even though abortion is legal and may be medically necessary. Citizens—particularly low-income pregnant and postpartum women—lose access to comprehensive, neutral information about all available healthcare options, and the government actively steers them away from a category of legal providers. This is a cost to reproductive autonomy and informed decis
Who stands to gain
- pregnancy support centers (non-medical crisis pregnancy centers)
- anti-abortion nonprofits and advocacy organizations
- religious organizations providing pregnancy-related services
Named in the bill
Department of Health and Human Services (Secretary), moms.gov website, State health agencies, Planned Parenthood (implied excluded party), pregnancy support centers, essential community providers (as defined in 45 CFR 156.235)
Where it stands
11 cosponsors: 11 Republicans.
- Sep 14, 2026 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- Sep 14, 2026 — Referred to House Committee on Energy and Commerce and House Committee on Ways and Means · Congress.gov: “Referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, for a…”
- Sep 16, 2026 — Markup held in committee · Congress.gov: “Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held”
- Sep 16, 2026 — Reported out of committee · Congress.gov: “Ordered to be Reported in the Nature of a Substitute by the Yeas and Nays: 25 - 13”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (7,336 characters) on Sep 16, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,606 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
As of — page rendered 2026-10-31.
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