Bonamici, Sykes, Chu, DelBene Demand Oversight of Moms.gov

WASHINGTON, DC [6/8/2026] - Today Congresswomen Suzanne Bonamici (OR-01), Emilia Sykes (OH-13), Judy Chu (CA-28), and Suzan DelBene (WA-01) led 83 of their colleagues in conducting oversight of the recently-launched Moms.gov.

Moms.gov launched in May with the purported goal of offering guidance to expectant mothers, but the website instead features potentially harmful information about crisis pregnancy centers and puts sensitive health information at risk. The Congresswomen demanded Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. provide answers about HHS's goals in developing, funding, reviewing, and operating Moms.gov.

"This website purports to be a resource to support the health and well-being of women and families, yet it deceives vulnerable people by sending them to anti-abortion centers, or so-called 'crisis pregnancy centers,' that are not real medical providers," the Representatives wrote. "Additionally, these organizations often engage in questionable data collection practices of individuals' sensitive health information. We have long raised concerns about deceptive practices that jeopardize patient privacy and mislead people seeking reproductive health care, and we urge the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to guarantee that all federally supported public-facing maternal health resources provide medically accurate, evidence-based, and comprehensive information and protect Americans' private health information."

The Representatives noted that the "Find Pregnancy Centers Near You" feature on Moms.gov appears to direct users to Option Line, a 24/7 contact center managed by Heartbeat International, a nationwide anti-abortion organization and network of over 1,000 crisis pregnancy centers. Heartbeat International's mission is to make abortion "unwanted today and unthinkable for future generations," and it has faced significant scrutiny regarding the collection, storage, and handling of sensitive reproductive health information through services including the Option Line.

"Deciding whether or when to bear a child is a deeply personal decision that should be made by the patient and trusted health care providers using medically-accurate and comprehensive information, not by opponents of reproductive freedom," the Representatives wrote. "The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services already has resources with comprehensive information for women on reproductive health, including pregnancy, birth control methods, infertility, sexually-transmitted infections, and more. Moms.gov is duplicitous, a waste of government resources, and a thinly-veiled attempt to push a far right agenda onto people at a vulnerable time in their lives."

The letter is supported by the Democratic Women's Caucus, Reproductive Freedom for All, National Partnership for Women & Families, National Women's Law Center, Planned Parenthood Federation of America, and Power to Decide.

In addition to Bonamici, Sykes, Chu, and DelBene, the letter was signed by 83 of their colleagues, including Representatives Gabe Amo, Becca Balint, Wesley Bell, Don Beyer, Julia Brownley, Nikki Budzinski, André Carson, Sean Casten, Joaquin Castro, Gil Cisneros, Yvette Clarke, Steve Cohen, Jasmine Crockett, Danny Davis, Diana DeGette, Chris Deluzio, Mark DeSaulnier, Maxine Dexter, Dwight Evans, Lizzie Fletcher, Bill Foster, Lois Frankel, Maxwell Frost, John Garamendi, Chuy García, Sylvia Garcia, Dan Goldman, Adelita Grijalva, Val Hoyle, Jared Huffman, Jonathan Jackson, Sara Jacobs, Hank Johnson, Julie Johnson, Robin Kelly, Tim Kennedy, Ro Khanna, John Larson, Summer Lee, Teresa Leger Fernandez, Stephen Lynch, Lucy McBath, Sarah McBride, April McClain Delaney, Jennifer McClellan, Betty McCollum, Morgan McGarvey, Kelly Morrison, Seth Moulton, Kevin Mullin, Eleanor Norton, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Chris Pappas, Scott Peters, Brittany Pettersen, Mark Pocan, Mike Quigley, Delia Ramirez, Emily Randall, Deborah Ross, Andrea Salinas, Mary Gay Scanlon, Jan Schakowsky, Hillary Scholten, Adam Smith, Greg Stanton, Haley Stevens, Marilyn Strickland, Suhas Subramanyam, Mark Takano, Shri Thanedar, Dina Titus, Rashida Tlaib, Paul Tonko, Ritchie Torres, Lori Trahan, Nydia Velázquez, Bonnie Watson Coleman, and Frederica Wilson.

The full text of the letter can be found here and below.

Dear Secretary Kennedy:

We write to express significant concerns about the misleading information presented through the recently launched website, Moms.gov. This website purports to be a resource to support the health and well-being of women and families, yet it deceives vulnerable people by sending them to anti-abortion centers, or so-called "crisis pregnancy centers," that are not real medical providers. Additionally, these organizations often engage in questionable data collection practices of individuals' sensitive health information. We have long raised concerns about deceptive practices that jeopardize patient privacy and mislead people seeking reproductive health care, and we urge the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to guarantee that all federally supported public-facing maternal health resources provide medically accurate, evidence-based, and comprehensive information and protect Americans' private health information.

Every year, thousands of people seeking objective and medically sound reproductive health care end up in fake women's "health centers," sometimes referred to as crisis pregnancy centers. Many if not most of these clinics falsely and deliberately advertise themselves to potential clients as health care clinics that will provide comprehensive, medically accurate information, as well as legitimate medical care such as pregnancy testing, ultrasounds, and prenatal care, but most crisis pregnancy centers have the sole purpose of convincing pregnant clients not to have an abortion. Crisis pregnancy centers routinely use a variety of deceptive tactics, including making false claims about available reproductive health care and disseminating inaccurate, misleading, and stigmatizing information about abortion and contraception. For example, a crisis pregnancy center in Pennsylvania told a pregnant woman that she had a miscarriage, but the patient was still experiencing pregnancy symptoms. The woman went to a doctor who told her that she still had a viable pregnancy.

Additionally, most crisis pregnancy centers in the United States do not employ licensed medical personnel and do not provide referrals for birth control or abortion care. Crisis pregnancy centers across the country are preventing people from accessing critical reproductive health care and intentionally delaying access to time-sensitive prenatal and abortion services. Reproductive health includes a broad range of services that include access to abortion, contraception, fertility and infertility care, maternal and perinatal care, prevention and treatment of sexually transmitted infections, and protection from sexual and gender-based violence. Having access to this full range of information and services is critical to a healthy pregnancy and positive outcomes for both the mother and child.

According to publicly available information, the "Find Pregnancy Centers Near You" feature on Moms.gov appears to direct users to Option Line, a 24/7 contact center managed by Heartbeat International, a nationwide anti-abortion organization and network of over 1,000 crisis pregnancy centers. Heartbeat International's mission is to make abortion "unwanted today and unthinkable for future generations," and it has faced significant scrutiny regarding the collection, storage, and handling of sensitive reproductive health information through services including the Option Line and the organization's "Next Level Content Management Solution" (Next Level CMS) data platform.

Public reporting has raised concerns that Heartbeat International developed Next Level CMS to collect and centralize extensive personal and reproductive health information from individuals seeking pregnancy-related information and services, including names, addresses, phone numbers, pregnancy status, sexual and reproductive histories, ultrasound information, test results, and information related to whether an individual may be considering abortion care.Publicly available materials for Next Level CMS have stated that the system "harnesses the power of big data" and includes a "Client Risk Tracker" intended to keep affiliated crisis pregnancy centers informed about an individual's perceived "risk level" for obtaining an abortion.

Heartbeat International's Option Line hotline has reportedly fielded contacts from millions of individuals seeking pregnancy-related information and services, despite the fact that many crisis pregnancy centers affiliated with Heartbeat International are not licensed healthcare providers and are therefore not subject to the same federal medical privacy regulations under HIPAA that apply to hospitals, clinics, and licensed medical professionals. As a result, individuals may disclose highly sensitive reproductive health information, including pregnancy status, sexual and reproductive histories, ultrasound information, and abortion-related inquiries, without receiving the privacy protections and confidentiality safeguards they may reasonably expect in a legitimate healthcare setting. Heartbeat International and its affiliates have been known to mislead pregnant people, claiming that they are HIPAA-covered entities and that client data remains protected. In 2024, a watchdog organization filed a complaint on behalf of thirteen women whose names were made public by a Louisiana crisis pregnancy center affiliated with Heartbeat International and confirmed that the sensitive information of the center's patients are not protected by HIPAA.

Deciding whether or when to bear a child is a deeply personal decision that should be made by the patient and trusted health care providers using medically-accurate and comprehensive information, not by opponents of reproductive freedom. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services already has resources with comprehensive information for women on reproductive health, including pregnancy, birth control methods, infertility, sexually-transmitted infections, and more. Moms.gov is duplicitous, a waste of government resources, and a thinly-veiled attempt to push a far right agenda onto people at a vulnerable time in their lives.

Since Roe v. Wade was overturned in 2022, women have died because some elected officials put politics over women's lives and refuse to allow people to make their own decisions about whether and when to have a child. Some pregnant women have been forced to wait until they are at risk of death before doctors will provide them care. Twenty five million women live under state abortion bans. Maternal mortality rates are increasing, with Black mothers disproportionately impacted by these deadly bans. In 2019, Black mothers in states that went on to ban abortion were 2.2 times as likely as white mothers to die as a result of pregnancy or birth. By 2023, after abortion bans were enacted, this disparity widened to being 3.3x more likely to die.Even before the Dobbs decision, maternal death rates in 2020 were 62 percent higher in states that ban or restrict abortion than in states where it was accessible.

The federal government has a responsibility to give people who seek pregnancy-related information honest, comprehensive, and medically sound guidance, and to protect individuals' privacy. At a time when access to reproductive health care is increasingly under threat, federal platforms must uphold the highest standards of accuracy, transparency, and confidentiality.

To better understand HHS's goals in developing, funding, reviewing, and operating Moms.gov, we request responses to the following questions:

• What offices, agencies, contractors, or outside organizations were involved in the development, design, or operation of Moms.gov?
• What was the decision making process in determining that Option Line would be the primary tool through which users on Moms.gov would be able to find pregnancy resources near them? What review process was used to verify the medical accuracy and completeness of information provided through the site?
• Were licensed medical providers or comprehensive reproductive healthcare providers considered for inclusion in the directory? If so, what criteria were used to include or exclude them?
• What review process was used to verify the medical accuracy and completeness of information provided through the site?
• Were reproductive health experts, including licensed medical providers, OB-GYNs, and public health professionals, consulted during the development of the platform?
• Moms.gov, when pointing its users to a directory of pregnancy centers, states that "the majority of pregnancy centers offer limited medical services." Does HHS have a plan to disclose which pregnancy centers listed on Moms.gov are licensed healthcare facilities staffed by licensed medical professionals?
• How does HHS ensure that users understand the differences between federally qualified health centers that offer comprehensive evidence-based medical care and pregnancy centers that may offer only limited or non-clinical services?
• What safeguards are in place to prevent federally supported resources from directing users to organizations that disseminate medically or otherwise inaccurate information?
• What disclosures are provided to users regarding whether listed organizations provide comprehensive reproductive healthcare services, are licensed medical providers, or have religious or ideological affiliations?
• Did HHS review or approve content relating to "Abortion Pill Reversal" (APR) that appears on websites linked through Moms.gov? If so, what scientific evidence, clinical guidance, or medical authorities did HHS rely upon in determining that such content was medically accurate and appropriate for inclusion on a federally supported resource?
• Does HHS consider "Abortion Pill Reversal" to be an evidence-based medical intervention?
• Why does the information for contraceptive options on Moms.gov exclude the full range of FDA-approved contraceptive options and legally available reproductive healthcare services? What experts were consulted in determining contraceptive options to include or exclude?
• Does Moms.gov, or any affiliated contractor, vendor, hotline, or partner organization, including Option Line or platforms associated with Heartbeat International's "Next Level" data management system, collect user data including geolocation information, IP addresses, names, phone numbers, addresses, pregnancy information, sexual or reproductive histories, ultrasound information, menstrual cycle information, or other personally identifiable information?
• Are Heartbeat International, Option Line, and affiliated crisis pregnancy centers linked through Moms.gov subject to HIPAA or other federal medical privacy laws in the same manner as licensed healthcare providers? If not, what privacy standards govern the collection, storage, retention, transfer, and disclosure of this information, and will Moms.gov issue a disclaimer on the site to indicate as such?
• Does Heartbeat International or any affiliated organization retain, monetize, sell, transfer, or otherwise share information collected from users who access services through Moms.gov?
• Has HHS reviewed whether affiliated organizations linked through Moms.gov use tools or systems intended to assess, track, categorize, or monitor an individual's likelihood of seeking abortion care?
• Has HHS provided any federal funding, grants, contracts, cooperative agreements, or technical assistance to Heartbeat International, Focus on the Family, or any affiliated organizations in connection with Moms.gov or associated referral services? If so, please provide the amount, funding source, and purpose of such funding.
• Will states, TANF-funded programs, federally funded grantees, or other entities be encouraged or required by HHS to direct individuals to Moms.gov?
• Why does Moms.gov direct pregnant workers to information about workplace health risks without also informing users that they may have legal rights to reasonable accommodations and workplace protections under federal law, including the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act?
• Will HHS commit to reviewing and removing any content or referrals found to be misleading, incomplete, or inconsistent with established medical standards?

Thank you for your attention to this matter. We look forward to your prompt response.

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1. ^

   Adams, Ashley. "Misled and misdiagnosed: Crisis pregnancy centers in Pennsylvania are endangering women." The Keystone, 21 Oct. 2025, https://keystonenewsroom.com/news/politics/misled-and-misdiagnosed-crisis-pregnancy-centers-in-pennsylvania-are-endangering-women/.

2. ^

   Moseley-Morris, Kelcie. "States are already collecting more abortion data. And HIPAA won't always keep it private." West Virginia Watch, 3, Oct. 2024, https://westvirginiawatch.com/2024/06/03/states-are-already-collecting-more-abortion-data-and-hipaa-wont-always-keep-it-private/.

3. ^

   Clauw, Michael. "Watchdog asks Louisiana AG to investigate deceptive pregnancy center following leak and HHS determination." Campaign for Accountability, 11, Dec. 2024, https://campaignforaccountability.org/watchdog-asks-louisiana-ag-to-investigate-deceptive-pregnancy-center-following-leak-and-hhs-determination/.

4. ^

   Planned Parenthood. "Abortion bands & state population." Oct. 2024, https://www.plannedparenthoodaction.org/uploads/filer_public/85/e8/85e8c25c-1c53-41c6-b26f-aff322519f9d/0624-c4_c3-bans-off-state-pop-data-pdf-v7.pdf; Gender Equity Policy Institute. "Maternal mortality in the United States after abortion bans." April 2025, https://thegepi.org/maternal-mortality-abortion-bans/