Moms.gov

Dads seemed pretty much off the hook in this process, or at least they were off the site.

For Mother’s Day this year the federal government launched the website Moms.gov and this is the first thing that meets your eye when you land there. What’s missing in this photo are pink baby feet on the left side of the picture and blue baby feet on the right side. Maybe she’s having twins. The roll out of this new initiative included a White House press conference where Dr. Oz introduced the idea that the nation is “under-babied,” but that we could look forward to a wave of “Trump babies.” I’m assuming that Moms.gov is expected to help make this a reality.

“Navigating pregnancy can be overwhelming,” the visitor to the site is told, “but you don’t have to do it alone.”

Okay, that sounds pretty good. Continuing to read you learn about Pregnancy Centers, there are 2,750 with varying services that may include, for example, pregnancy tests, STD/STI testing and treatment, childbirth classes, medical referrals, and diapers—at no cost- and offer limited medical services. However, when you click on the link connected to Pregnancy Centers–“Find Pregnancy Centers Near You”–you are connected to only one option, Option Line. Follow the yellow brick road: Option Line asks, “What Services Are You Scheduling For?” and you’re offered one response–Initiate Intake, Pregnancy Test. The site advises that they don’t offer or refer for abortion services. That makes sense because as it turns out, Option Line was started by Heartbeat International, an anti-abortion association, connected to more than four thousand pro-life pregnancy help organizations.

What about the 1400 Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHC) that provide a range of medical care to underserved areas of the country? I put in my zip code to see what came up: three local practices that offer routine health care. Nothing targeting pregnancy-related issues.

Nutrition Quick Facts for Mothers has a link to dietary guidelines for Americans, that urges Americans to eat real not processed food, with a colorful display of AI-generated fruits and vegetables. The only moms-specific advice from what I could tell, was to get 400 micrograms of folic acid daily.

Not surprisingly, reflecting the administration’s pro-natalist philosophy, the focus is on conception: preconception health and “Fertility Awareness Based Methods,” with no mention of contraception.

I continued to scroll. Dads seemed pretty much off the hook in this process, or at least they were off the site. And the message conveyed was that there was really only one decision to be made.

There’s more. Moms.gov offers you an opportunity to: “Jumpstart your child’s future with Trump Accounts.” Yes, really. Eligible children can be enrolled with your 2026 tax return, to receive $1000 when they turn eighteen, which in will have a purchasing power of $500-$700.

And, if you’re looking to start a family, head to TrumpRx for the “lowest prices” on prescription medications.

I don’t know why I continue to be aghast at what the Trump and his administration come up with, but I am. The reach of their tentacles seems boundless.

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The pro-natalist movement aimed at inciting American women to have more babies began even before Trump stepped into the White House. During the presidential campaign a conservative commentator and former Ron DeSantis staffer posted on X that a “really simple, under-discussed reason why Kamala Harris shouldn’t be President” is that she has “no children.” As early as 2021, JD Vance was saying that parents should have more “voting power” than adults without children. The belief that women without are less than compared to those who fulfill their duties as breeders and helpmates isn’t new.

The Dobbs decision was prophetic in foretelling the direction the country would take regarding women’s health and reproductive freedom. But this is, I think, a part of a larger, so disturbing, devolution of Rights. Most everyone’s.

So what’s next? Father’s Day. Will there be a Fathers.gov? Or Dads.gov. And what might it include? How to support your wife during her (your) pregnancy? How to be a co-parent? How to what? I can’t imagine.