WASHINGTON — Today, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 6945, the Supporting Pregnant and Parenting Women and Families Act, by a vote of 215–209, advancing legislation that affirms states’ authority to support pregnancy centers that provide critical assistance to women, children, and families.

“Today’s vote is a clear affirmation that states—not federal bureaucrats—should be able to support organizations that provide real help to women and families,” said Carol Tobias, president of National Right to Life. “Pregnancy centers offer practical, compassionate assistance to women facing unexpected pregnancies, and they should not be targeted or excluded simply because they are committed to protecting both mother and child.” 

The bill clarifies that states may use Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) funds to support pregnancy centers and prevents federal agencies from blocking that support through regulation or reinterpretation of the law.

The bill was sponsored by Rep. Michelle Fischbach (R-MN), co-chair of the House Pro-Life Caucus.

During House consideration, several Members spoke in support of the bill, including Reps. Michelle Fischbach (R-MN) and Chris Smith (R-NJ), co-chairs of the Pro-Life Caucus; Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith (R-MO); and Reps. Sheri Biggs (R-SC), Vince Fong (R-CA), Rudy Yakym (R-IN), Mike Bost (R-IL), and Jeff Crank (R-CO).

Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-TX) was the only Democrat to vote in favor of the legislation.

Pregnancy centers nationwide provide a wide range of services, including pregnancy testing, prenatal and parenting education, peer-to-peer counseling, and material assistance such as diapers, baby clothes, and other essentials.

“With passage of H.R. 6945, the House has taken an important step to ensure that women are not denied access to meaningful support and life-affirming alternatives,” Tobias added. “We urge the Senate to act swiftly and send this commonsense legislation to the president’s desk.”

Founded in 1968, the National Right to Life Committee (NRLC), the federation of affiliates in each of the 50 states, is the nation’s oldest and largest grassroots pro-life organization. National Right to Life works through legislation and education to protect innocent human life from abortion, infanticide, assisted suicide, and euthanasia.

WASHINGTON — Congress took a key step to protect pregnancy help organizations from ideological attacks, advancing legislation that affirms states’ authority to support pregnancy centers that provide critical assistance to women and families.

The legislation was introduced on January 6, 2026, by Michelle Fischbach (R-MN), with Chris Smith (R-NJ) and Claudia Tenney (R-NY).

“We applaud and thank Representatives Michelle Fischbach, Chris Smith and Claudia Tenney for standing up for women, strengthening families, and recognizing the vital work of pregnancy centers,” said Carol Tobias, president of National Right to Life.

On January 14, the House Ways and Means Committee advanced H.R. 6945, the Supporting Pregnant and Parenting Women and Families Act. The bill clarifies that states may use Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) funds to support pregnancy centers and prevents federal agencies from blocking that support through regulation or reinterpretation of the law. Every Republican on the Ways and Means Committee voted to advance the bill, while every Democrat voted against it.

“National Right to Life strongly supports the Supporting Pregnant and Parenting Women and Families Act. Pregnancy centers often face discrimination simply because they are committed to protecting unborn life,” said Tobias. “The Supporting Pregnant and Parenting Women and Families Act makes clear that states may support pregnancy centers without fear of federal interference, ensuring that women are not denied access to real help and meaningful alternatives.

H.R. 6945 amends Part A of Title IV of the Social Security Act to make explicit that nothing in federal law may be used to prohibit states from directing TANF funds to pregnancy centers. The bill also clearly defines pregnancy centers as organizations that protect the lives of both mother and unborn child while providing services such as pregnancy testing, prenatal and parenting education, relationship counseling, and material assistance including diapers, baby clothes, and other essentials.

House leadership is expected to bring H.R. 6945 to the floor this week. If passed, the bill will move to the Senate for consideration.

National Right to Life’s scorecard letter to representatives can be found here.

Founded in 1968, the National Right to Life Committee (NRLC), the federation of affiliates in each of the 50 states, is the nation’s oldest and largest grassroots pro-life organization. National Right to Life works through legislation and education to protect innocent human life from abortion, infanticide, assisted suicide, and euthanasia.

WASHINGTON — National Right to Life (NRLC) announced the introduction of the APPLE Act — the Abortion Pill Provider Liability and Education Act — a new model law designed to protect women by ensuring honesty, transparency, and accountability in the use of abortion pills.

The APPLE Act responds to mounting evidence that women are not being fully informed about the risks of chemical abortions and are too often left without recourse when serious complications occur. The law empowers women and their families to hold abortion pill manufacturers, prescribers, and providers accountable for injuries, complications, trauma, or death — while preserving women’s privacy and dignity.

“The APPLE Act is about truth and accountability,” said Carol Tobias, president of National Right to Life. “Women deserve full and honest information before taking abortion pills, and they deserve legal protection when something goes wrong.” 

Tobias continued, “If abortion pills are as safe as their promoters claim, then transparency and accountability should not be controversial.”

Recent data and firsthand accounts underscore the need for reform. According to the most recent FDA reporting, at least 36 women in the United States have died after taking mifepristone, with additional deaths reported internationally. Large-scale insurance and international studies have found that between nearly 5% and more than 10% of women who take abortion pills end up seeking emergency medical care, often for hemorrhage, infection, incomplete abortion, or other serious complications. Women’s own accounts describe prolonged bleeding, severe pain, psychological trauma, and emergency hospitalization.

The APPLE Act focuses on common sense protections rooted in long-standing principles of informed consent and patient safety. Among its key provisions, the APPLE Act:

• Requires abortion pill providers to give women clear, written information about known risks and potential complications, including excessive bleeding, infection, and incomplete abortion.
• Ensures women are told they may seek emergency medical care without fear of penalty for disclosing abortion pill use.
• Mandates the reporting of abortion pill complications to state agencies to create an accurate public record.
• Implements a public awareness campaign informing the public about a woman’s right to know about the risks associated with chemical abortion and the right to sue.
• Allows women or their families to pursue civil action when abortion pill providers or manufacturers cause harm or fail to obtain proper informed consent.
• Protects the anonymity of women who bring legal action.

For years, abortion pill advocates have dismissed women’s injuries and trauma as “rare” or “minor,” while opposing meaningful reporting requirements and legal accountability. The APPLE Act challenges that contradiction directly.

“The APPLE Act protects women’s right to know the truth and hold abortion-pill providers accountable,” Tobias said. “Women deserve the truth — and they deserve legal protection when abortion providers fail them.”

National Right to Life encourages state lawmakers to introduce and advance the APPLE Act as a woman-centered response to the growing harms associated with chemical abortions. NRLC will be working with state affiliates and legislators nationwide to promote the model law and educate the public about its protections.

Founded in 1968, the National Right to Life Committee (NRLC), the federation of affiliates in each of the 50 states, is the nation’s oldest and largest grassroots pro-life organization. National Right to Life works through legislation and education to protect innocent human life from abortion, infanticide, assisted suicide, and euthanasia.

WASHINGTON — A U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee hearing yesterday under the leadership of Senator Bill Cassidy (R-LA) exposed how the Biden administration’s expansion of mail-order chemical abortion drugs is endangering women and undermining state laws designed to protect life.

“Yesterday’s hearing confirmed what we are seeing across the country: abortion drugs are being pushed on women with no meaningful medical oversight, no accountability, and no regard for state law,” said Carol Tobias, president of National Right to Life. “Mail-order abortion is not health care. It is a reckless experiment that puts women at risk and leaves families to deal with the consequences.”

Tobias continued, “National Right to Life commends Senator Cassidy and the HELP Committee for bringing national attention to the dangers of chemical abortions.”

The hearing, titled “Protecting Women: Exposing the Dangers of Chemical Abortion Drugs,” featured testimony from Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill and obstetrician-gynecologist Dr. Monique Chireau Wubbenhorst, who detailed how federal policies have enabled widespread distribution of abortion pills—often into states with strong life-protective laws—despite clear prohibitions.

Testimony presented to the committee documented cases involving severe complications, lack of medical supervision, coercion, and deaths associated with abortion drugs. Witnesses explained how the removal of in-person dispensing requirements for mifepristone has made enforcement of state law increasingly difficult while empowering out-of-state abortion providers operating behind so-called shield laws.

“Women deserve better than pills shipped through the mail with no physician oversight and no accountability when something goes wrong,” Tobias said. “We urge Congress to restore commonsense safeguards that protect women’s health and respect the authority of states to defend both mothers and their unborn children.”

Founded in 1968, the National Right to Life Committee (NRLC), the federation of affiliates in each of the 50 states, is the nation’s oldest and largest grassroots pro-life organization. National Right to Life works through legislation and education to protect innocent human life from abortion, infanticide, assisted suicide, and euthanasia.