Rep. Jacques bill establishing pregnancy resource hub unanimously passes House committee
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Legislation by Rep. Berny Jacques, R-Seminole, establishing an online pregnancy resource hub unanimously passed the Florida House Healthcare Regulation Subcommittee on Thursday.
Sen. Erin Grall, R-Fort Pierce, filed the Senate companion bill, SB 436.
The Florida Department of Health would contract with a third party to develop the site.
“This website will contain critical resources for expecting parents and pregnant women,” Jacques said during committee. “These services would include education materials on pregnancy and parenting, maternal health services, prenatal and postnatal services, educational and mentorship programs for fathers, social services, financial assistance and adoption services.”
Rep. Robin Bartleman, D-Weston, expressed how the Florida Department of Health already has a website containing information and material for pregnant women. She wondered how the new site would differentiate.
“The difference is that this will be a standalone, conspicuous website,” Jacques replied. “This current site that you reference is within the Department of Health’s website. It’s a tab, I believe. This would be a standalone website with its own URL where all this one stop shop of resources would be available.”
Other representatives, including Rep. Kelly Skidmore, D-Boca Raton, questioned whether the information on the site would be medically accurate.
Jacques reassured the committee the Florida Department of Health would oversee all content that would be on the site and would only display accurate information.
Other representatives including Reps. John Snyder, R-Stuart, and Jenna Persons-Mulicka, R-Fort Myers, expressed their support for the bill and thanked Jacques for his work with Grall on the legislation.
“We have so many resources and programs for expectant mothers, for mothers and fathers seeking adoption services, for new parents with young children, that it’s so important that we get that information out to the community,” Persons-Mulicka said.
“I see your bill as streamlining the process, as providing a one stop shop where our families can seek the information they need from pregnancy services to adoption resources and support to our new fatherhood programs, which I think are just incredible and I’m so excited to her just how far we’ve already come on those,” she added.
