Rubio, Mace introduce bill expanding access to resources for pregnant women

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) introduced legislation seeking to offer expanded resources to pregnant people Thursday, including a website that provides information on the risks of abortion and alternatives to the procedure. 

A bill introduced by Rubio in the Senate, in addition to a companion bill offered by Mace in the House, would instruct the Health and Human Services secretary to create a website called life.gov.

The website would direct pregnant women toward a list of resources like “resources to mental health counseling, pregnancy counseling, and other prepartum and postpartum services”; “comprehensive information on alternatives to abortion”; and “information about abortion risks, including complications and failures,” according to the bill text.

The legislation would also require a portal to be developed for the Health and Human Services website that would give pregnant individuals resources that could be available in their zip codes and information on abortion-related risks, among other aspects of the bill.

The Senate bill is co-sponsored by Sens. Roger Marshall (R-Kan.), Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), James Inhofe (R-Okla.), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.), John Thune (R-S.D.), Rick Scott (R-Fla.), Ted Cruz (R-Texas), and Deb Fischer (R-Neb.).

“Pregnant and newly parenting mothers should not be left in the dark, nor should they be pushed toward abortion. Instead, they should have easy access to the resources they need to look after their babies. This bill would help make that a reality,” Rubio said in a statement.

“It’s important that in our approach to promoting life as a country, we also provide women with the family planning resources they need to carry a healthy baby to term and succeed as new mothers,” Mace said in her own statement. 

Last month, the Supreme Court eliminated the constitutional right to an abortion when it overturned Roe v. Wade, leading to a patchwork of states curbing access to the medical procedure. 

The ruling was celebrated by conservatives who believe states should have jurisdiction over abortion while it was slammed by Democrats and abortion rights advocates who have expressed concern it will not curb the medical procedure, but only safe ones.