families. In this case, are women “uplifted” by cranking out more kids, or is the purpose just to please the president? For most families to add a new baby, $5,000 hardly cuts it. Naturally, these proposals beg the question whether these targeted, soon-to-be-uplifted families are meant to be white, only?
The National Center for Health Statistics at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said there were only 54.5 births per 1,000 females aged 15-44 in 2023, the lowest figure on record, down 3 percent from the 2022 birth rate.
Again, JDV is quoted about wanting “more babies” to be born in the U.S. What? Not kittens? Will ICE be coming after childless cat ladies that can neither reproduce human children nor even care to?
Newsweek also noted that Peggy Heffington, a professor at the University of Chicago who writes on women’s issues and motherhood, has stated that Trump’s reported proposals miss the reality of economic difficulties facing American families. What is not required is an ideological agenda that exalts motherhood.2 Shall we not exalt all women in general?
The push for women to have more children has a powerful ally: Trump – AXIOS
* Reporting on April 22, 2025, AXIOS reports that there has been little emphasis on the “unique level of danger” that birthing poses in the United States. Since the U.S. population is aging, this presents complex economic and health care challenges that the “pro-natalists” argue may be alleviated through encouraging the rise of fertility rates in the U.S. At the same time, the U.S. is dealing with an ongoing maternal mortality crisis and politically fraught debates over women’s reproductive health.
The pro-natalist movement comprises several factions with conflicting views of what constitutes a family. They are apparently fighting over not when, but exactly “how” women should be reproducing, with debates around IVF and genetic screening. Some of these PN adherents believe that more white people (surprise) should be encouraged to have more babies, which would help maintain the stability of the white race.
AXIOS also reports on a recent conference held in Austin, TX, called the Natal Conference, which brought together Christian conservatives and Silicon Valley technologists to brainstorm on how to get people to have more (white) babies. As grotesque as most of this sounds, the natal movement has been critical of far-right members who champion white supremacy and groups of misogynists who are calling for a return to traditional gender roles.
Certain members of the natal movement are embracing a procreation methodology that even the most conservative members cannot support. The Washington Post featured one couple who have used IVF and genetic selection in implanting 5 embryos, who will hopefully all survive to a healthy delivery. It seems unlikely that this practice will catch on among the beautiful men and women in the United States. Furthermore, who is the ethically bereft medical provider who is assisting this “litter-version” of human reproduction?
And, lest we forget, there is Elon Musk and his prideful procreation tactics. . .3
Inside the “Vital” Office for Reproductive Health Gutted by Mass HHS Firings: Mother Jones (April 4, 2025)
* On Tuesday, April 4, during the mass purging of workers from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is an office dedicated to promoting healthy pregnancies. Of the 100 employees at the Division of Reproductive Health, most of them lost their jobs. This move appears to run afoul of the Trump Administration’s pledge to prioritize healthy pregnancy and family planning. This mass purge occurred less than a week after Trump, at a Women’s History Month event, promised to be the “fertilization president. In January, at the anti-abortion March for Life, Trump said he would “ work to offer a loving hand to new mothers and young families” and “protect women and vulnerable children. Experts consulted on the latest firings say that the halt to IVF research and family planning work is what Trump campaigned on. By eliminating a 40-person women’s health and fertility branch, he stopped the very work that he promised to promote. 4
Reproductive Freedom for All Condemns Trump Cutting Off Federal Loans and Grants, Restricting Health Care Access Nationwide: Reproductive Freedom for All (January 28, 2025)
* For over 50 years, Reproductive Freedom for All (formally NARAL Pro-Choice America) has fought to protect and advance reproductive freedom at the federal and state levels – including access to abortion care, birth control, pregnancy and post-partum care, and paid family leave – for everybody. Reproductive Freedom for All is powered by its more than 4 million members from every state and congressional district in the country, representing the 8 in 10 Americans who support legal abortion.
Washington, DC – Last night, President Donald Trump’s White House budget office ordered countless loans and grants distributed by the federal government to be cut off, endangering access to health care, including sexual and reproductive care, and other essential programs nationwide. “Donald Trump’s decision to cut off federal grants and loans is reckless, and it will have catastrophic consequences for people across the country who depend on these programs. This is a direct attack on families and communities that will block people’s access to critical health care services and other programs. This action will have irreversible repercussions, and we will continue to fight back alongside our partners and members to hold Trump accountable for it..”5
8,000 pregnant women may die because of US aid cuts to reproductive care. Trump says he wants to make IVF more accessible, but his administration’s other actions are putting reproductive freedom at risk: MIT Technology Review. (February 21, 2025)
* On February 18, Trump signed an executive order that seeks to make IVF more accessible to people in the US. But the move comes after a barrage of actions by the new administration that are hitting reproductive care hard for people around the world. On January 20, his first day in office, Trump ordered a “90-day-pause in United States foreign development assistance” for such programs to be assessed. By January 24, a “stop work” memo issued by the State Department brought US-funded aid programs worldwide to a halt.
Estimates suggest that more than 8,000. Women will die from complications related to pregnancy and childbirth if the funding is not reinstated within the next 90 days. On January 24, Trump reinstated the global gag rule – a policy that requires nongovernmental organizations receiving US health funding to agree that they will not offer abortion counseling and care. This move alone immediately stripped organizations of the funding they need to perform their work. From MSI Reproductive Choices, who manages donor-funded programs at the organization: “Over 2 million women and girls would have received contraceptive services with that money.
Impact on global health: Reproductive health care is likely to lose out as affected governments and health organizations try to reorganize their resources, and “In times of crisis. . .women and girls tend to be deprioritized in terms of access to health and social services. According to Amy Friedrich-Karnik, director of federal policy at the Guttmacher Institute, every single day that the freeze is in place, there are 130,000 women who are being denied contraceptive care. By denying people access to contraception, not only are you denying them tools for their bodily autonomy – you are really risking their lives. Thousands more women will die down the road.
As of April 17, 2025, the Trump administration has extended its foreign aid review for another 30 days. “The Administration announced that it would extend its 90-day foreign aid review, which would have concluded on April 20, 2025, for another 30 days.”6
Statement From The American College of Nurse-Midwives on the Leaked HHS Budget Proposal:(April 23, 2025)
The ACNM is deeply concerned by reports of major cuts to Title VIII Nursing Workforce Development Programs – leaked by the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) FY 2026 Budget Request.
Title VIII programs are essential for supporting the education and training of America’s nursing and midwifery workforce. This impacts access to higher-quality, evidence-based, equitable health care across the country, particularly in underserved and rural communities. At a time when our nation faces critical shortages in the health care workforce, any reduction in funding to these programs threatens to undermine progress toward improving maternal health outcomes, reducing disparities, and strengthening our health care infrastructure.
ACNM strongly urges HHS and congressional leaders to reject these proposed cuts and instead prioritize robust investment in nursing and midwifery education and training. The health of our nation’s nursing and midwifery workforce depends on it.7
1. The New Republic. Https;//newrepublic.com/post/194212/trump-plan-women-more-babies
2. Newsweek. By Brendon Cole, senior news reporter. https:www.newsweek.com/trump-bonus-birth-rate-2062569
3. AXIOS – health. By Caitlin Owens. https://axios.com/2025/04/22/trump-women-children-natalist-movement.
4. Mother Jones. By Julianne McShane. https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2025/04/hhs-ivf-trump-elon-cults-reproductive-health-mass-firings-division-of-reproductive-health/
5. Contact:[email protected] https://rreproductivefreedomforall.org/news/reproductive-freedom-for-all-condemns-trump-cutting-off-federal-loans-and-grants-restricting-heslth-care-ac. . .
6. MIT Technology Review. Biotechnology and Health. By Jessica Hamzelou. https://www.technologyreview.com/2025/02/21/112237/8000-pregnant-women-may-die-us-aid-cuts/
7. Statement from the American College of Nurse-Midwives on the Leaked HHS Budget Proposal
© 2025 Martha Merrill-Hall