Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds said her MOMS (More Options for Maternal Support) Program is an example of how a legislative body can use its power to protect the unborn.
Reynolds made those remarks during his 2023 State of the State Address when he asked lawmakers for additional funding for the program, which connects women with pregnancy support services, sources safety net, housing assistance, and mental health recovery and treatment. In 2022, the original law allocated $500,000 in state funds for the program.
“A pro-life state is a state that surrounds every person involved in a pregnancy—born and unborn, mother and father—with protection, love, and support,” Reynolds said. “Every woman facing an unplanned pregnancy deserves to know that she deserves it, that she is not alone.”
In 2023, MOMS funding increased after the Iowa Legislature appropriated $2 million to administer the program. The funds will go to pregnancy centers that offer clients the resources to choose childbirth and to make informed decisions about choosing adoption or parenting with respect to their children, according to in The Des Moines Register.
In January, the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services announced it would award four grants under the state’s MOMS program. The grant awardees, according to The Des Moines Register, including: Alternatives Pregnancy Center (located in Cedar Falls and Waterloo), Bethany Christian Services of Northwest Iowa, Informed Choices of Iowa (based in Iowa City and Burlington), and Lutheran Services of Iowa. Alternatives Pregnancy Center is one of 1,200 affiliated with the Care Net network of pregnancy centers.
Some of the goals of the program for MOMS include:
- Provides personalized, confidential, and comprehensive support for women so that they can make informed life choices for themselves and their babies, based on their needs and circumstances, regarding their decision to parent or place their baby for adoption.
- Ensuring access to quality prenatal and postpartum care and supporting women to practice healthy health-related behaviors throughout their pregnancy and postpartum so that their babies thrive.
- Connecting expectant parents to educational and support services so they can better provide loving, responsible, and competent care for their children.
- Improving family economic independence by connecting parents with assistance in housing, education, and employment.
In his 2023 State of the State Address, Reynolds told the story of Sarah Hurm to illustrate the need to support pregnant women. Hurm, a single mother of three, was pregnant with her fourth child, but—after failing to receive support from the baby’s father to give birth—took the first pill to induce a chemical abortion.
“Immediately he was filled with regret. He heard the baby’s heart beat, and the sound replayed in his mind. It weighed heavily on him when he picked up his children from school. How is this life different from theirs, he asked. And it weighed on him when he went to bed that night,” Reynolds said.
Fortunately, Hurm was able to call the abortion pill reversal hotline. The staff immediately connected her to a local doctor who performed a reversal that saved her baby’s life.
“Today, Sarah volunteers at a pregnancy clinic that provides support to women facing unplanned pregnancies,” Reynolds said. “She shared her story and her compassion for mothers facing the same decision. He helps them to give them the support that is missing for him; support that should be available to every expectant mother.”
