Federal pregnancy portal excludes abortion information, steering women toward alternatives.
H.R. 688 — Standing with Moms Act · Filed by Nancy Mace (R-SC) · Introduced Jan 23, 2025 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This bill requires the Department of Health and Human Services to create a federal website (life.gov) and interactive portal that provides pregnant women with information about pregnancy resources, alternatives to abortion, abortion risks, and fetal development. The portal will tailor information based on user location and needs, and HHS will follow up with users via phone or email. States can apply for grants to help aggregate local resources. The bill excludes any organization that performs, refers for, or counsels in favor of abortion from being listed as a resource.
Why we flagged it
The bill's operative mechanism is not neutral information provision but rather curation that excludes abortion-related resources and emphasizes alternatives and risks. The 'prohibited entity' definition ensures the portal functions as a one-sided information tool rather than a comprehensive pregnancy resource.
What the text implies
- The 'prohibited entity' definition excludes not only abortion providers but also any organization that 'counsels in favor of abortions' or provides financial support to such organizations, potentially capturing mainstream medical organizations, Planned Parenthood affiliates, and many public health agencies that provide comprehensive reproductive health information.
- HHS follow-up outreach (subsection e) creates a mechanism for government contact with pregnant women who use the portal, raising privacy and autonomy concerns about unsolicited government outreach regarding pregnancy decisions.
- The bill defines 'unborn child' as beginning at fertilization, embedding a contested philosophical/legal position into federal health infrastructure and potentially affecting how pregnancy-related services are framed and offered.
- State grant program (subsection f) incentivizes states to build resource-aggregation systems that comply with the federal 'prohibited entity' exclusion, effectively federalizing abortion-related information policy across state health systems.
- The portal's emphasis on 'abortion pill reversal' and 'perinatal hospice' as standard resources may overstate the availability and efficacy of these services relative to standard medical practice.
Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.
Who it affects
Pregnant women lose access to neutral, comprehensive pregnancy information because the bill mandates exclusion of abortion providers and pro-abortion counselors from the portal's resource list. While the portal provides legitimate support services, the exclusionary definition of 'prohibited entity' and the emphasis on abortion risks and alternatives creates an information environment designed to steer women away from abortion rather than inform them of all options. This restricts pregnant women'
Who stands to gain
- pregnancy resource centers (crisis pregnancy centers)
- adoption agencies
- maternity homes and shelters
- disability support organizations
- mental health and addiction services providers (non-abortion-affiliated)
Named in the bill
Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration, Maternal Mental Health Hotline, State health departments, Planned Parenthood (implicitly excluded), abortion providers (implicitly excluded)
Where it stands
- Jan 23, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- Jan 23, 2025 — Referred to House Committee on Energy and Commerce · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce”
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 (8,380 characters) on Nov 2, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,927 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 2026-11-02.
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