FIRST ON FOX: One southern state is launching an app to help connect pregnant women and mothers with resources ranging from healthcare and adoption to food assistance and job opportunities.
Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch — who brought the case to the Supreme Court that overturned Roe v. Wade — announced on Tuesday the launch of the Mississippi Access to Maternal Assistance (MAMA) mobile app.
The app is a continuation of a state-run website, launched in October, that has attracted over 7,000 visitors and aims to connect mothers directly to services they need "in three clicks or less."
"Our state is blessed with countless public and private resources, but it can be challenging to navigate while also adjusting to a changing family," Fitch said in a press release. "Whether you are a mother-to-be or a mother of three, MAMA can quickly connect women and their children to the resources they need to thrive, including infant essentials, food, financial assistance, clothing, shelter, job opportunities and childcare."
The attorney general's office has added more than 100 new resources to the MAMA service directory. They include public, private and faith-based entities that provide anything from healthcare, insurance, adoption services, food assistance, job training and more.
The announcement of Mississippi's MAMA app comes days ahead of the annual March for Life in Washington, D.C. The theme of the 2024 March for Life is "with every woman, for every child." It aims to address the confusion and show that being pro-life is not only about political fights without regard to the difficulties of an unplanned pregnancy, according to march organizers.
The MAMA app divides resources into nine categories, including pregnancy resources like ultrasounds, diaper banks and parenting classes' health resources like Medicaid enrollment and mental health counseling; adoption services; food help like community kitchens and food banks; resources to find goods like car seats, strollers, diapers and maternity and infant clothing; safety resources like crisis centers, domestic abuse shelters and places to request legal aid; places to apply for financial assistance for rent, transportation and child care costs; child care centers; and even a place to search for job openings and career training.
Mississippi is looking for more non-profits and businesses to add their services to connect with expectant mothers in the state.
The MAMA app is one part of Fitch's Empowerment Project, which she launched in 2023 to reform state policies to be more family friendly in post-Roe America.
"When the Supreme Court gave us the Dobbs decision, they returned policymaking about very important issues to the people. The task now falls to us, and we must rise to this challenge," Fitch said after launching the project in 2023.
The March for Life, which has organized large events in the nation's capitol since the Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade decision effectively legalized abortion in the U.S., will convene this Friday for its 51st march.
