MOMS Act Mandates Child Support for Unborn Children and Launches New Federal Pregnancy Resource Site

The Feds Are Launching a Pregnancy GPS: What the MOMS Act Actually Does

The More Opportunities for Moms to Succeed Act, or the MOMS Act, is a comprehensive bill aiming to reshape how federal resources are delivered to pregnant and new mothers. It’s organized around three core ideas: centralizing resources online, funding organizations that support carrying pregnancies to term, and expanding child support enforcement to cover the period before birth. Crucially, the bill introduces strict rules about who gets included in these new programs—and who is explicitly shut out.

Title I: The New Digital Hub and the ‘Prohibited Entity’ Rule

The biggest upfront change is the creation of a new federal website, Pregnancy.gov (SEC. 101). Think of it as a localized GPS for maternity resources. Within one year, the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) must launch this site, allowing users to input their ZIP Code and answer questions to generate a list of local resources for pregnancy, postpartum care, and raising young children. Users can even choose how far out they want the search radius to go—from 1 mile up to 100 miles.

However, there’s a massive carve-out here: No resource from a “prohibited entity” can be listed on the site, and those entities can’t receive any grants meant to help states manage these resources. A “prohibited entity” is defined very broadly as any organization that performs, refers for, counsels in favor of, or financially supports groups that perform abortions. For the average person, this means that while the site might be great for finding adoption services, food banks, or parenting classes, it will not be a comprehensive resource for all reproductive health options, potentially excluding major providers like Planned Parenthood or even some large hospital systems from being listed.

Title I also mandates that states annually report a list of licensed, tax-exempt private child placement agencies to the Secretary, who will then compile a national list on Pregnancy.gov (SEC. 102). States that fail to submit this list risk losing federal adoption and legal guardianship incentive payments, which is a big stick to ensure compliance. This is a win for anyone looking for adoption resources, as it centralizes information that was previously scattered across state lines.

Title II: Grants with Strict Conditions

Title II sets up two new grant programs. The first is the “Positive Alternatives for Women” program (SEC. 201), which funds nonprofit groups that actively support women in carrying pregnancies to term. These grants are specifically designed to help women with medical care, housing, job training, and parenting classes. The catch? To get this money, organizations cannot charge women for services, and they must agree to strict monitoring. More importantly, they are disqualified if they or any of their affiliates perform, refer for, or counsel in favor of abortions.

The second grant program focuses on improving access to prenatal and postnatal care via telehealth (SEC. 202). This money is meant to help eligible entities—like hospitals or clinics in rural, frontier, or medically underserved areas—buy the equipment needed for at-home monitoring and virtual visits. This is a clear benefit for expecting mothers far from a clinic, helping them manage high-risk pregnancies without long commutes. But again, the same restriction applies: organizations involved in abortion services or referrals cannot receive this funding.

For the busy person, the takeaway from Title II is that the federal government is putting money toward maternal health resources, but it is heavily steering that funding toward organizations that meet a specific ideological criteria, effectively creating a separate, parallel system of care that excludes comprehensive reproductive health providers.

Title III: Unborn Child Support—Starting at Conception

This section, which amends the Social Security Act, is arguably the most significant change for family law and finances (SEC. 301). It requires states to update their child support enforcement plans to include the “unborn child” as a “child.” This means that upon the mother’s request, states must establish and enforce child support obligations against the biological father while the baby is still in the womb.

Here’s how it works in practice: If a mother requests it, the court can set the support obligation to begin as early as the month of conception (confirmed by a doctor). Payments can be collected retroactively even if paternity isn't established until after the birth. The mother has the final say on paternity testing, and the state cannot force the establishment of paternity without her consent, nor can they take action if a doctor deems it harmful to the unborn child. For mothers facing high prenatal care costs and lost wages during pregnancy, this provision offers a new avenue for financial relief, ensuring the father shares the financial burden of the pregnancy itself. However, this also represents a substantial new administrative and legal burden for state child support systems, which will need to adapt to enforcing payments for a child who has not yet been born. This change won't kick in immediately; the effective date is two years after the bill is signed into law.