In conjunction with the 51st annual March for Life, the United States Senate is rolling out a slate of pro-life bills that protect not just the vulnerable child in the womb, but also provide for mothers, encourage the involvement of fathers, and support the important work of pregnancy resource centers.
Last week, tens of thousands of Americans converged on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., for the 51th annual March for Life. Ever since the Supreme Court declared that abortion was a constitutional right in the infamous Roe v. Wade decision, women, men, and children from across the country have come to the nation’s capital each January to march in support of the right to life.
Even though, thanks to the Dobbs decision, the court’s overreach in Roe v. Wade no longer stands, overturning that ruling was just one step towards ending the scourge of abortion in America. In a post-Roe world, our mission is to equip women with information and resources that persuade them to choose life for their unborn babies.
In light of last week’s march, Concerned Women for America Legislative Action Committee (CWALAC) is endorsing several new pieces of legislation designed to do just that – bills that would each further protect new, innocent life and provide for moms.
The first is the reintroduction of Sen. Kevin Cramer’s (R-North Dakota) Unborn Child Support Act. This bill would allow expectant mothers to collect child support payments while the baby is still in the womb, and she could request that those payments be made retroactively up until the point of conception as determined by a physician. By providing a financial lifeline, this bill would encourage countless numbers of women to choose life for their unborn children. It also affirms that both mothers and fathers have a critical role to play in every chapter of a child’s life.
CWALAC CEO and President Penny Nance endorsed the bill, saying:
“We believe that life begins at conception and that every life at every stage is intrinsically valuable as created in the image of God. We are proud to support legislation that affirms every baby is precious and deserving of the love and protection of both parents. The hundreds of thousands of women we represent are thankful to Sen. Cramer for introducing such decidedly pro-woman legislation, the Unborn Child Support Act, which allows mothers to receive child support during pregnancy, and we commit to press on alongside him until we see it become the law of the land.”
In addition to Sen. Cramer’s bill, Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Mississippi) is introducing two other pro-life bills that CWALAC is proud to support.
The first, the Pregnancy Center Support Act, is designed to financially support the invaluable services these centers offer to expectant moms. Pregnancy resource centers provide clothing, mentorship, medical resources, adoption services, and anything else a woman might need during and after her pregnancy. They are life-giving alternatives to Planned Parenthood and other abortion clinics. And since the Dobbs decision overturned Roe. V. Wade, demand for the services offered by pregnancy resource centers has grown exponentially. In 2022 alone, 2,750 pregnancy centers provided more than 16,000,000 client sessions and over $358,000,000 in free goods and services.
But these centers are run almost entirely by volunteers and on donations. The Pregnancy Center Support Act would incentivize charitable giving to these centers by allowing for tax credits to be made available for all donations given to pregnancy centers nationwide. These centers need our support now more than ever, and this bill would make it more financially appealing to do that.
The last bill is also aimed at helping pregnancy resource centers – the Let Pregnancy Centers Serve Act. This legislation is a response to a recent Biden administration proposed rule that says pregnancy centers are not eligible to receive Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) funds.
The TANF program was designed to address the root cause of poverty and reduce dependence on government benefits by providing states with block grants for programs that promote work and marriage. Several states allocate TANF funds to their pregnancy centers, since these centers provide moms with adoption resources and job mentorship programs that help her provide for herself and her child. Yet the Biden administration has decided that supporting life and healthy pregnancies is not a priority for the program. Planned Parenthood continues to receive TANF monies to fund their abortion operation, but centers that actually support families cannot. This bill would nullify that proposed rule and ensure that these centers can continue to receive those funds.
In a culture that argues that abortion is still a necessary solution for unplanned pregnancies, we in the pro-life movement must continue to educate and provide resources that prove it isn’t the case. CWALAC is proud to stand by Sens. Cramer and Hyde-Smith and these life-affirming pieces of legislation. You can contact your senators and ask them to support all three bills by using our action center here.