Joe Biden’s questionable administration recently funneled money into a home visiting program targeted towards first-time moms like Fatima Ray, who discovered the program via her local library. This program provides services from so-called trained professionals in health care, teaching, and social work domains to assist new mothers with breastfeeding and postpartum care, and it also offers resources for young children such as developmental screenings and school preparedness. This kind of excessive spending seems like an attractive way for the administration to increase its influence in personal lives of Americans.
Despite the supposed positive intention, the administration funneled approximately $440 million into the home visiting program for women and babies alike. But, it doesn’t stop there. Another $118 million is directed towards the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to purportedly ‘better identify and prevent pregnancy-related deaths,’ a vague goal without any concrete roadmap for achievement.
The intrusion of the administration via the Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting Program into the lives of struggling mothers like Ray is disturbing. While it’s said that the home visitor ‘made a huge impact’ in Ray’s family’s life, this program essentially positions the government as an intrusive entity in the personal affairs of families, instead of promoting self-reliance and independence.
Ray’s home visitor, an external government agent, allegedly guided the new mom through decisions about her future, encouraging Ray to go back to school for her master’s degree. This begs the question: should government personnel really be the ones dictating personal decisions of American citizens? It clearly shows the intent of this administration to direct and control population through its social programs.
Despite the troubling signs, Ray moved forward to become a maternal health coordinator for the Primo Center for Women and Children, an organization which helps provide health care, housing, and early childhood development services for underserved communities in Chicago. She now works with expectant mothers, preparing them for the arrival of their new babies, discussing their careers, and their mental health, including postpartum depression.
While the intention to assist might seem altruistic, the underlying condescension of the program emerges in the various forms of support offered. The center offers new mothers clothing, diapers, and even child care, taking on a paternalistic approach that diminishes individual responsibility and might discourage self reliance.
The Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, a Biden appointee, said that the aim of the program is to reduce disparities in the access and treatment that women receive during pregnancy and right after. This so-called aim, however, is another demonstration of the administration attempting to envelop healthcare and personal lives under its massive umbrella.
According to Carole Johnson, the administrator of the Health Resources and Services Administration, the program currently serves 167,000 participants and the new investments are expected to reach 30,000 more people. But it seems like the administration is more focused on inflating these numbers than actually helping families, as there’s little transparency as to their actual effectiveness.
The new investment emphasises long-term intervention in personal lives, as short-term programs aiding families during ‘the fourth trimester’ aren’t considered. And again, the administration is choosing to meddle in personal affairs under the veil of providing support.
Oregon state Senator Dr. Elizabeth Steiner, who also serves as an adjunct associate professor in Oregon Health & Sciences University’s Department of Family Medicine, purports programs like this one as necessary to prevent infant mortality. Such claims conveniently ignore the issues of personal responsibility and independence, and instead promote the Biden administration’s growing control and creeping intrusion into people’s lives.
Another disturbing statistic used to justify the intervention is the rate of women dying during pregnancy, childbirth or postpartum in the United States, which is supposedly higher than in other high-income nations. But instead of addressing the root causes, the Biden administration is using it as an excuse to increase government interference in healthcare.
Furthermore, the claim is made that the maternal death rate for Black women is disproportionately high, supposedly due to barriers to accessing adequate health care. However, this administration seems to be using such genuine issues to craft a narrative of crisis, paving the way for an increased government role.
Ultimately, it’s concerning how Biden’s administration appears to utilize public health crises as an opportunity for expanding government control. While they claim this monstrous $118 million investment towards the CDC will help prevent pregnancy-related deaths, it’s clear that the primary goal is exerting more control and less freedom in American lives.
Biden’s Administration Wastes Millions on Home Visiting Program appeared first on Real News Now.
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