H.R. 688 (119th)Bill Overview

Standing with Moms Act

Health|Child care and developmentChild health
Cosponsors
Support
Republican
Introduced
Jan 23, 2025
Discussions
Bill Text
Current stageCommittee

Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.

Introduced
Committee
Floor
President
Law
Congressional Activities
01 · The brief
Plain-English summaryWhat this bill actually does

Requires HHS to create a public website (life.gov) and a tailored portal listing federal, state, local, and private resources for pregnant and postpartum women. The portal must include alternatives to abortion, information on abortion risks, links about child development, and exclude any “prohibited entity” that performs or counsels in favor of abortions.

Why people may split

Progressives emphasize exclusion of abortion providers and biased risk messaging

Watch point

Relative to its intended legislative type, this bill establishes a substantive statutory program requiring HHS to create a national public website and tailored portal for pregnant and postpartum women, to coordinate resource lists with States, to expand hotline linkages, and to exclude certain providers from listings.

Requires HHS to create a public website (life.gov) and a tailored portal listing federal, state, local, and private resources for pregnant and postpartum women.

The portal must include alternatives to abortion, information on abortion risks, links about child development, and exclude any “prohibited entity” that performs or counsels in favor of abortions.

The Secretary must operate the portal at the Office of the Secretary level, link it to the Maternal Mental Health Hotline, enable follow-up outreach with user consent, offer multilingual access, and report usage and gaps to Congress.

Passage30/100

Narrow administrative bill but high controversy over abortion content and provider exclusions; lacks funding language and faces legal and Senate hurdles.

CredibilityPartially aligned

Relative to its intended legislative type, this bill establishes a substantive statutory program requiring HHS to create a national public website and tailored portal for pregnant and postpartum women, to coordinate resource lists with States, to expand hotline linkages, and to exclude certain providers from listings. The bill contains multiple specific operational directives (content categories, timelines, administrative level, state criteria, and an initial report) but omits explicit funding authorization and many procedural specifics for verification, grants, and sustained oversight.

Contention72/100

Progressives emphasize exclusion of abortion providers and biased risk messaging

02 · What it does

Who stands to gain, and who may push back.

Likely benefits vs burdens50% / 50%
Local governmentsFederal agencies

These are examples from the analysis, not a ranked list of the most-affected groups.

Likely helped
  • Potential benefitCentralizes pregnancy and postpartum resources in one public portal, reducing search time for women seeking services.
  • Potential benefitAdds 24/7 maternal mental health hotline live chat and follow-up, potentially improving timely mental health access.
  • Local governmentsState grant program and resource aggregation may create coordination and administrative roles at state and local levels.
Likely burdened
  • Potential burdenExcluding entities that provide or counsel in favor of abortion may omit comprehensive clinical providers and informati…
  • Potential burdenMandated follow-up outreach and contact information collection raises potential user privacy and data-handling concerns.
  • Federal agenciesDeveloping and operating the portal, hotline expansion, and state grants will increase federal and state administrative…
03 · Why people split

Why the argument around this bill splits.

Progressives emphasize exclusion of abortion providers and biased risk messaging
Progressive20%

Views the bill as a mixed measure: it centralizes supports for pregnant people but embeds explicit anti‑abortion framing and exclusions.

Concern centers on omission of abortion providers, mandated focus on "abortion risks," and language defining life from fertilization.

Likely resistant
Centrist55%

Sees practical value in a user-friendly portal and hotline linkage but worries about medical accuracy, exclusionary rules, and unfunded implementation.

Would want neutral vetting, clear funding, and privacy protections before supporting.

Split reaction
Conservative85%

Likely favorable: views the bill as providing practical supports for pregnant women while preventing government promotion of abortion.

Sees value in directing women to alternatives and strengthening maternal services.

Leans supportive
04 · Can it pass?

The path through Congress.

Introduced

Reached or meaningfully advanced

Committee

Reached or meaningfully advanced

Floor

Still ahead

President

Still ahead

Law

Still ahead

Passage likelihood30/100

Narrow administrative bill but high controversy over abortion content and provider exclusions; lacks funding language and faces legal and Senate hurdles.

Scope and complexity
52%
Scopemoderate
52%
Complexitymedium
Why this could stall
  • No explicit appropriation or cost estimate provided
  • Potential legal challenges to exclusion of abortion providers
05 · Recent votes

Recent votes on the bill.

No vote history yet

The bill has not accumulated any surfaced votes yet.

06 · Go deeper

Go deeper than the headline read.

Included on this page

Progressives emphasize exclusion of abortion providers and biased risk messaging

Narrow administrative bill but high controversy over abortion content and provider exclusions; lacks funding language and faces legal and S…

Unlocked analysis

Relative to its intended legislative type, this bill establishes a substantive statutory program requiring HHS to create a national public website and tailored portal for pregnant and postpartum women, to coordinate res…

Go beyond the headline summary with full stakeholder mapping, legislative design analysis, passage barriers, and lens-by-lens tradeoff breakdowns.

Perspective breakdownsPassage barriersLegislative design reviewStakeholder impact map
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