Rep. Harshbarger hopes to create website to provide pregnancy resources
WASHINGTON, D.C. (WJHL) — Congresswoman Diana Harshbarger has reintroduced legislation that would create a national website to connect pregnant women with nearby resources as alternatives to abortion.
Harshbarger filed the Pregnancy.Gov Act on Thursday.
Tennessee, Ballad Health agree to changes in COPA terms
According to Harshbarger's office, the website 'Pregnancy.gov' would help expectant mother find public and private resources based on zip codes.
The website would be created at no net cost to the government since it would use existing resources. Harshbarger hopes to give the site credibility by giving it a '.gov' domain.
According to the text of the bill, the website would be prohibited from including resources offered by a 'prohibited entity.' Prohibited entities are defined in the legislation as an entity or clinic that 'performs, induces, refers for, or counsels in favor of abortions, or provides financial support to any other organization that conducts such activities.'
'When you're blessed with a pregnancy — whether expected or unexpected — you shouldn't have to scramble for help. This bill ensures women have easy access to life-affirming resources, including prenatal care, alternatives to abortion, transportation assistance, support for victims of domestic or sexual violence, and much more.'This legislation has the potential to save countless unborn lives while helping families welcome God's greatest gift into the world. I'm proud to lead this effort and continue standing as a strong voice for life.'
Congresswoman Diana Harshbarger
The bill would require the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish the website.
According to the text of the bill, users of the site would answer a series of questions to generate a list of relevant resources within a selected radius.
The full text of the bill can be read by
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
6 hours ago
- Yahoo
RFK Jr.'s HHS Shakeup Spares Dr. Plescia, Backer Of Vaccine Credentials
Despite firing every member of the federal vaccine advisory committee, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has retained one key figure with a radically pro-passport past. Kennedy, who recently disbanded the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), kept Dr. Marcus Plescia in a top post at HHS as Deputy Assistant Secretary and Director of the Office of Science and Medicine. Plescia's past comments in favor of vaccine passports place him well to the left of even the Biden White House's stance during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2021, Plescia — then serving as chief medical officer for the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials — told The New York Times that vaccine passport credentials were 'going to be necessary,' calling it 'perplexing' that the federal government was keeping its distance from such a proposal. His remarks came even as White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki assured reporters that 'there will be no federal vaccinations database and no federal mandate requiring everyone to obtain a single vaccination credential.' Plescia's position, made public at the time through The New York Times' reporting, stood in contrast not only to Biden's hesitancy but also to an ongoing wave of state-level opposition. Governors from Texas, Florida, and Mississippi issued orders banning or opposing any form of vaccine credentialing, arguing it violated basic liberties and privacy. Kennedy's implicit decision to retain contrasts with his other decisions. On June 9, the new health secretary made headlines for his sweeping removal of the 17-member ACIP panel, citing what he called a 'crisis of public trust' caused by conflicts of interest and pharmaceutical industry influence. 'The committee has become… little more than a rubber stamp for any vaccine. It has never recommended against a vaccine—even those later withdrawn for safety reasons.' Kennedy wrote in an op-ed for The Wall Street Journal, adding that many members had received 'substantial funding from pharmaceutical companies.' But the retention of Plescia — whose support for vaccine passports predates the Biden administration's relatively more cautious approach — raises questions. Plescia's 2021 endorsement of vaccine credentials aligned more with European-style digital health passes and apps like those trialed by Cathay Pacific Airlines and implemented by companies such as Walmart. 'There is going to have to be some kind of system where [vaccination status] is verified,' he said, arguing it was the only way to safely reopen businesses and restore public trust. The White House was unwilling to go that far at the time, concerned about the ethical implications and civil liberties involved. Instead, Psaki emphasized the government's position that any such system should 'meet key standards, including accessibility, affordability and privacy,' but would ultimately be left to the private sector. President Biden never fully implemented a vaccine passport system, but he did issue an executive order requiring nearly every private sector employee to get the COVID shot, which in turn prompted companies to create systems of verification for employees and customers. RFK Jr., a longtime COVID vaccine critic, ran a presidential campaign and later accepted his appointment to HHS on promises to dismantle what he called medical 'fascism.' His decision to purge the ACIP panel came after immense pressure from MAHA allies, including Dr. Mary Talley Bowden of Houston, who slammed the secretary for not taking more aggressive policy action to date, The Dallas Express reported. Kennedy's shakeup alarmed some congressional figures. Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA), a physician, said, 'Of course, now the fear is that the ACIP will be filled up with people who know nothing about vaccines except suspicion. I've just spoken with Secretary Kennedy, and I'll continue to talk with him to ensure this is not the case.' Kennedy was contacted for comment in the production of this story, but he did not respond. A spokesman for HHS did not immediately respond. Plescia's HHS bio describes his duties as follows: 'He advises the Assistant Secretary and OASH leadership across scientific and medical issues covering the full suite of public health priorities. He oversees staff and program work focused on state and federal health systems, infection-associated chronic conditions, vector borne disease, data-driven decision making and healthcare innovation.' The bio qualifies him for the job by saying, '[He] has widespread experience in medicine and public health. He is Board Certified in Family Medicine and practiced for over 20 years in a variety of settings serving homeless, urban poor and rural underserved populations.'


USA Today
9 hours ago
- USA Today
Killer asteroids, a 'Hamilton' reunion and a far-out French Open: The week in review
Killer asteroids, a 'Hamilton' reunion and a far-out French Open: The week in review Show Caption Hide Caption Whew! Asteroid risk level shifts lower overnight for Earth impact. Asteroid 2024 YR4 had a 3.1% chance of hitting earth in 2032 according to experts, but the chances dropped to 1.5% overnight. Here's why. Asteroids aim for the moon, too We worry a lot about an asteroid striking Earth, but we don't seem to hear much about the fate of our closest cosmic neighbor. Data from the James Webb Space Telescope indicates there's a 4.3% chance the asteroid known as 2024 YR4 could strike the moon in 2032, NASA said. For context: Just a 3.1% chance that YR4 would hit Earth was considered historically high and sent astronomers scrambling before they took a closer look and ruled out the threat. Why the worry? YR4 is about the size of a 10-story building and, in an alarming bit of astronomical parlance, is considered a "city killer." RFK Jr. blows up vaccine panel Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has shaken up the nation's vaccine guidance again. The Health and Human Services secretary fired all 17 members of the Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices, which advises the federal government on vaccine safety, and two days later announced eight new members. Opponents warned the firings would stoke further public distrust, but Kennedy maintained that 'a clean sweep is necessary to reestablish public confidence in vaccine science' and declared that the new panel would 'no longer function as a rubber stamp for industry profit-taking agendas.' All 17 sitting committee members had been appointed by the Biden administration. A pox on your credit card balance It turns out even people who earn good money are embarrassed about their credit card debt. About two-fifths of Americans with credit card debt overall have lied about how much they owe, a LendingTree survey found, but for people who earn more than $100,000 a year, the share of fibbers rises to half. (For 28% of credit card consumers, silence was the preferred response, and most of those were women.) 'People don't expect people who earn a lot of money to have a lot of credit card debt,' LendingTree's Matt Schulz said. 'And the truth is that having a lot of money doesn't mean you're good at managing it.' Buy now, suffer later: How BNPL could wreck your financial future All hail 'Hamilton' and 'Happy Ending' Fans were treated to a 'Hamilton' homecoming at the 78th Tony Awards as more than two dozen members of the original cast took the stage at New York's Radio City Music Hall to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the blockbuster production that reimagined the story of America. Creator Lin-Manuel Miranda, Leslie Odom Jr., Jonathan Groff, Daveed Diggs and company brought the crowd to its feet in a performance-medley salute to the breakout show that captured 11 Tonys in 2016. As for the 2025 Tonys, the night belonged to the romantic robot dramedy 'Maybe Happy Ending,' which captured six awards, including best musical. French Open finals were two for the ages Coco Gauff, 21, became the first American woman to win the French Open since Serena Williams in 2015 when she stormed back to knock off No. 1-ranked Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus in a 6-7, 6-2, 6-4 barnburner marked by high drama, high winds and a flurry of unforced errors. The men's final, not to be outdone, saw Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz, 22, stun top-ranked Jannik Sinner of Italy 4-6, 6-7 (4-7), 6-4, 7-6 (7-3), 7-6 (10-2) in an epic 5 hours and 29 minutes, the longest men's singles final in French Open history. − Compiled by Robert Abitbol
Yahoo
18 hours ago
- Yahoo
Why former Congressman Roe was so passionate about veteran legislation
JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (WJHL) — Most people know Phil Roe as the Congressman who served Northeast Tennessee for six terms. During his time in Washington, D.C., he passed several bills to benefit veterans and servicemembers. He even chaired the House Committee on Veterans Affairs. 'I was one of the last people drafted in the army. I drafted in 1971,' he said. Roe was in Memphis for medical school when his first orders for Da Nang, Vietnam, were deferred for a year because so many doctors had been drafted from the area, leaving insufficient personnel to run the hospitals. He ended up going to Korea and was stationed 11 miles south of the demilitarized zone (DMZ). 'When you're in an infantry division like I was, you're divided into battalions. You have infantry battalions, aviation armor,' he said. 'I was in a medical battalion, and my medical battalion was right next to the armored battalion.' Roe was in the Second Infantry Division and the captain of the medical battalion. 'There were three of us young doctors that were in charge of taking the health care of an infantry division with 10,000 men in it,' said Roe. When he got out of the army, the $300 a month he received from the GI Bill helped support his young and growing career, as well as his family. 'I was having to work extra shifts in the [Emergency Room] to just pay the bills. I mean the rent was almost as much as my check was for a month, and I had a family to feed,' he said. 'To this very day, that made an impression on me.' Roe went on to become one of the most well-known OBGYNs in Johnson City, where he later served as the mayor before heading to Congress. 'I never thought I would ever do what I ended up doing,' he said. 'I never dreamed that, but I thought if I can ever do anything, I'm going to. And so I did.' SEE MORE: Fmr Congressman Roe discusses passage of Blue Water Navy Act for Agent Orange effects When chairing the House Veterans Affairs Committee, he visited VAs across the nation. He spearheaded bills aimed at helping his fellow veterans, including making the GI Bill a lifetime benefit and securing care for Blue Water Navy Veterans. 'They also have committed that service. And that's why I said, you know, I'm going to take care of them now,' he said. Roe says the Army set him up for success in many ways, but there is one thing that has stuck with him every day. 'I get up every day if I'm going somewhere, I polish and shine my shoes,' he said. 'You had to have shiny shoes in the military. If you'll notice, my shoes are polished. He hasn't slowed down since leaving Congress five years ago. He continues to volunteer with several local and national boards and occasionally participates in speaking engagements. However, he now has more time to play his guitar and pick his banjo. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.