119-hr688

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 688 Introduced in House

    (IH) ]

<DOC>

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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