REVERE, MA — In case you missed it, Democratic Whip Katherine Clark (MA-5) published an op-ed condemning Republicans' failure to address America's motherhood crisis with serious solutions.

You can read the entire op-ed HERE or below: 

Women are having fewer kids. It’s not a mystery why.

By Democratic Whip Katherine Clark 

"This Mother’s Day, President Donald Trump is worried that women aren’t having enough kids.

"Well, yes.

"If you make it harder to become a mom and harder to survive as a mom, fewer women will become moms.

"If you make it harder to find an obstetrician, fewer women will choose to get pregnant.

"If you make it harder to survive childbirth in America, fewer women will take the risk.

"If you increase the cost of living, dismantle public education and defund child care, fewer women will be able to afford one child, let alone multiple.
 
"If you don’t provide paid time off work to have a baby, how on Earth would women pay their bills while caring for a newborn?

"Republicans have finally noticed that American motherhood is in crisis. But they still don’t understand — or don’t want to admit — that their policy choices have hurt moms.

"More than 40 percent of mothers are the primary breadwinner in their households, while 70 percent of moms will serve that role for at least a year of her kid’s childhood.

"Meanwhile, the gender pay gap has not only lingered, but has actually widened. Paid maternity leave of any length is still viewed as 'generous.' Yet for decades, Republicans in Congress have resisted comprehensive equal pay protections and universal paid leave.

"Even if a would-be mom does get time off — or leaves her job outright — her community might very well have nowhere for her to give birth. Across the United States, 35 percent of counties don’t have a single maternity ward or obstetrician — often in poor and rural areas where motherhood can already be a financial challenge.

"By overturning Roe vs. Wade, Trump’s Supreme Court picks have rapidly worsened the situation. In the 14 Republican-controlled states that enacted draconian abortion bans, infant deaths were 5.6 percent higher than they would have been otherwise. For Black newborns, 11 percent higher. Mothers are faring worse in these states, too. Texas has seen a dramatic rise in deaths among pregnant women. With medical residents opting to avoid these states, reproductive care services will likely become even more scarce.

"And now, Republicans want to deliver another gut punch — kicking women off their health insurance, closing hospitals and boarding up rural clinics with a massive, devastating cut to Medicaid. Yes, the same politicians brooding over birth rates want to dismantle the program that pays for 41 percent of all births in America.

"But let’s say a new mom has persevered through all those systemic failures. Good luck finding child care.

"Most Americans live in a child-care desert, and the cost of care has outpaced inflation for years. Now, 4 in 10 families go into debt paying for it.

"Yet again, Republicans are making things even worse — defunding child-care programs and grants to funnel tax breaks to billionaires who, I imagine, already have plenty of options.

"At the same time, Trump has decided to slap tariffs on everything from car seats and strollers to toys and diapers. While he spikes the cost of groceries, he’s cutting food assistance for mothers and children.

"Where do we go from here? How do you make it feasible — not easy, not carefree, but possible — for women to tackle motherhood?

"Not by sliding them a symbolic, one-time 'baby bonus,' as the White House is considering. And certainly not by offering watered-down versions of otherwise smart Democratic policies.

"You make motherhood feasible by overhauling the systems that are failing mothers. By stacking the odds in Mom’s favor. By guaranteeing her the basic tools she needs to get by and get ahead.

"By treating women’s reproductive health decisions with the same deference as we treat men’s.

"By investing in obstetrics care.

"By guaranteeing women equal pay for equal work.

"By providing affordable child care.

"By reinstating the full Child Tax Credit.

By offering family leave that is fully paid and measured in months, not weeks.

"And by paying for it with a tax system that ensures everyone pays their fair share.

"These ideas are not radical, but their enactment would be revolutionary.

"It’s not too late; America can correct course. Let’s choose moms this Mother’s Day."
 

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