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Fact checking the ‘intentionally false and dangerous’ smear of Sen. Britt’s MOMS Act

Given the leftwing outrage following the introduction of the MOMS Act, it seems like Democrats are worried that Senator Katie Britt (R-Ala.) has pinpointed a winning message for Republicans nationwide heading into November’s election.

The MOMS Act stands for the “More Opportunities for Moms to Succeed Act.” This legislation would provide support to women during pregnancy and beyond, encompassing the prenatal, postpartum, and early childhood development stages. The bill would increase access to financial and healthcare resources and assistance aimed at helping mothers and their children.

Axios summarized that the legislation would provide “various prenatal and postpartum support for women.” United Press International explained that the MOMS Act would “boost resources for mothers” and “access to resources for pregnant women.”

“It also would institute a grant program to purchase medical equipment and technology for pre- and post-natal telehealth to serve rural and otherwise medically underserved areas,” UPI added.

The mainstream press attention on MOMS Act has apparently caused the far-left social media world and their allied blogs to go into overdrive to mischaracterize – and plain lie about – the legislation.

Salon.com, for example, incorrectly claimed the MOMS Act would “launch a pregnancy tracking database.”

The MOMS Act would, in part, create Pregnancy.gov – a federal clearinghouse of resources available to expecting and postpartum moms, as well as those with young children. As delineated in the bill, this clearinghouse would increase access to adoption agencies, pregnancy resource centers, and other relevant public and private resources (including healthcare providers) available to pregnant women, moms, and families within a given zip code and its surrounding areas.

RELATED: Britt introduces bill to support women throughout motherhood

Despite Salon’s salacious claims, a review of the bill text shows that there is no “tracking” involved in this legislation whatsoever, nor is there a database of pregnancies or pregnant women that would be created under the legislation.

In fact, users of Pregnancy.gov would not in any way limited to pregnant women, nor would the disclosure of any personally identifiable information required to use the website or access its database of resources. At no point would information regarding an individual’s pregnancy status even solicited under the provisions of the bill.

Other far-left social media users and blogs have made an additional false claim – that pregnant women would be forced to “register” or would otherwise be added to a “registry” by the government.

Analysis of the bill text shows that no one would have to “register” to view the maternal resources available on Pregnancy.gov., nor would there be any kind of registry created that distinguishes or identifies pregnant women. Through the website, anyone could view the relevant resources in a given locale without disclosing any personally identifiable information to the government. Providing contact information would be voluntary and only if a website user desired personal follow-up outreach from HHS. And, even if a user did opt in for that follow-up contact, there is no requirement that they actually disclose valid personal identifiable information if they do not want to. It’s clear that users could remain totally anonymous throughout the process (both using the website and the optional follow-up) if they desired.

Democratic National Committee Chairman Jaime Harrison’s involvement in this propaganda campaign against the MOMS Act indicates this is a concerted partisan effort by the DNC.

“So she creates a database of pregnant women so Trump then knows who to prosecute if any of those women get an abortion,” Harrison falsely said on X, formerly known as Twitter. “Yet another example of why this election is fundamental to protecting your liberty & freedoms!”

SBA Pro-Life America shared a to-the-point rebuttal of Harrison’s post.

“These claims are intentionally false and dangerous,” the organization stated.

“Pro-life laws across the board shield women from prosecutions. Moreover – read the bill, it provides a database of help forwomen, not a database of women. Women’s privacy is expressly protected,” SBA outlined. “These claims are nothing but a cynical attempt to distract from the Democrats obsession with abortion and relentless attacks on charities that help women. While Biden created a website to promote the brutality of abortion, @SenKatieBritt offers a more hopeful approach that offers real support for moms and their babies.”

Writing for Townhall.com, Rebecca Downs exposes what the false claims about the MOMS Act are all about – partisan, election year politicking. She calls the legislation a “particularly commonsense pro-life bill” that provides “support for both women and their children.”

Alabama’s Daria Monroe, CEO of Women’s Hope Medical Clinic in Auburn, emphasized her support for the MOMS Act in a written statement.

“In so many cases, we’ve heard women who’ve experienced abortion say the words ‘if only.’ If only I had the money to raise a child. If only I had someone who believed in me. If only I had access to prenatal care,” stated Monroe. “My center works to address this, providing services like pregnancy tests, ultrasounds, prenatal clinics, parenting education programs, diapers, full adoption services and more – all at no cost.  We are so thankful for members of Congress like Senator Britt who stand for women and provide solutions at the federal level.”

Senator Britt’s introduction of the MOMS Act is part of a comprehensive roadmap that she has laid out showing how Republicans prove they are indeed the “Party of hardworking parents and families.”

“This legislation is further evidence that you can absolutely be pro-life, pro-woman, and pro-family at the same time,” said Senator Britt in a statement. “The MOMS Act advances a comprehensive culture of life, grows and strengthens families, and ensures moms have the opportunities and resources needed so they and their children can thrive and live their American Dreams.”

In April, Senator Britt during a Senate Appropriations subcommittee hearing questioned HHS Xavier Becerra and exposed how extreme the Biden Administration’s abortion agenda is.

She has also been a champion of bipartisan healthcare legislation that would help vulnerable women, families, and children. Recently, Senator Britt joined Senator Laphonza Butler (D-Calif.) in introducing the NIH IMPROVE Act, which would provide consistent support and resources for the NIH to conduct important research into the causes of America’s maternal mortality crisis and to improve health care and outcomes for women before, during, and after pregnancy.

Additionally, Senator Britt joined Senators Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.), Susan Collins (R-Maine), and Tina Smith (D-Minn.) in introducing the Rural Obstetrics Readiness Act, which would expand access to maternal care by offering support for rural health care facilities and doctors to provide urgent obstetric care. Senator Britt also reintroduced the Access to Breast Cancer Diagnosis (ABCD) Act with Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) in September 2023. This bipartisan, bicameral legislation would eliminate copays and other out-of-pocket expenses for breast cancer diagnostic tests, making them more accessible and affordable.

Going back to last year, Senator Britt joined a bipartisan group of 59 of her Senate colleagues in reintroducing the Creating Opportunities Now for Necessary and Effective Care Technologies (CONNECT) for Health Act of 2023. This bill would expand coverage of telehealth services through Medicare, make permanent COVID-19 telehealth flexibilities, improve health outcomes, and make it easier for patients to connect with their doctors, especially important in rural areas.

Additionally, she cosponsored two pieces of bipartisan legislation to help all Alabamians access insulin. They include the Affordable Insulin Now Act of 2023, which would cap the price of insulin for all patients, including those who are uninsured, at $35 for a 30-day supply; and the Improving Needed Safeguards for Users of Lifesaving Insulin Now (INSULIN) Act of 2023, which would comprehensively address the skyrocketing costs of insulin, removing barriers to care and making it more accessible for millions more Americans.

Finally, Senator Britt, along with Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), introduced the Youth Mental Health Research Act to create a national Youth Mental Health Research Initiative to guide long-term mental health care efforts, better target preventive interventions for those at risk of developing mental health challenges, and improve treatments for children.

These commonsense efforts – and the fact that Senator Britt is a uniquely effective messenger during this election year as the only Republican mom of school-aged children in the U.S. Senate – are why Democrats are pulling out all the stops to undermine her message.

Grayson Everett is the state and political editor for Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @Grayson270

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