Pro-Family Legislation - Does it help?
Hi everyone, I saw an article about all of the pro-family legislation that is coming as a result of ending abortion access, and I decided to do a blog about it. But I wanted to ask the folks in DU - do you think this legislation has value?
I would especially like to hear from parents and grandparents of young children. I realize that most of DU is older men, but as voting citizens, you have the power to push these things through, so I wanted your opinion.
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In a recent blog, I mentioned some pro-family legislation that has come about in Republican states as a result of anti-abortion legislation. And I said that it doesn’t go far enough. Well, there has been progress; Congress is getting involved, across the table. Most of the bills I’m listing here have joint bipartisan co-sponsorship, and hopefully will go through. For example, there is a bipartisan program put together in the Senate to address the horrific number of maternal deaths, which has tripled since 1990. The program includes improved training, telehealth options and more doula care – non-obstetric professionals providing pre-natal, labor and post-natal care. There are also several initiatives to collect data in the hope of finding more solutions. And the House also passed a bill to increase home health aide visitation.
Also at the Senate level, there is also a bill to raise the child tax credit from $2000 to $4200 for children under 6. This is sponsored by one of the most liberal Republican politicians in the Senate (Romney), so we’ll see if it will fly.
Next, there is a bipartisan bill to increase adoption rates with an expanded adoption tax credit.
A bill with government funding is a bipartisan bill that provides funding for early child-care education programs, possibly resulting in free child-care for low income families.
There are two efforts that truly help two of the most vulnerable populations, teens in school and college women who get pregnant. One bill instructs colleges to provide resources for mothers in terms of housing, daycare and spaces for breast feeding. Another bill is a block-grant to pay for child care for teen parents.
An amazing bipartisan bill is around affordable housing. It’s a tweak of an existing act which will increase the housing credit and expand access, block communities from excluding programs in their neighborhoods and increase access for college students.
Last is a bipartisan bill to raise the pre-tax spending account for child-care from $5,000 to $10,500. This helps middle-income families more than it helps low-income families, but it is something.
The interesting thing about these bills is that they reduce the amount of income tax or require government spending, but don’t affect private companies. In contrast, Democrats want to get employers involved. They have sponsored a bill to expand family and medical leave to 12 weeks. This is unpaid. But it keeps employers from replacing workers. Biden put a 12-week paid leave policy in his Build Back Better Bill in 2021 and it was one of the first items to get cut. We are one of the only first-world countries that does not offer this.
One employer-affected bill that passed last year is the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act. In my mind, it requires employers to do the minimum, but it is a start. Pregnant women and new mothers are allowed to ask for accommodations and receive them without reprimand. A chair, a water bottle, a place to nurse. Lifting weight limits, unpaid leave for doctor’s appts, accommodations for morning sickness. These are real issues for women working in low-paying jobs; issues that previously could get them fired. So, it’s a big thing, at little cost to employers.
Congress cannot affect Medicaid, but several states are stepping up, increasing the length of time a new mother can receive Medicaid, or increasing the income level of eligibility. And some states are getting employers to offer paid parental leave.
It is sad that it took the end of abortion rights to push legislators to address family issues in a big way, but it’s happening. It’s about time.