At the heart of Friends work is a commitment to mothers and families and alleviating generational poverty that keeps families from succeeding. We want to take a moment to reflect on how recent events have complicated the path to quality, accessible healthcare access for women. A historic court, ruling Roe v. Wade, which once helped ensure the privacy, safety, respect, and autonomy of women and their healthcare, was overturned on June 24th by the Supreme Court. This ruling took away the federal protection of abortion and has also threatened other reproductive and sexual health services such as IVF treatments and birth control. It sends a clear message to women they are no longer protected or trusted to make informed medical decisions about their bodies. In the wake of this decision, it has exacerbated the various hoops that women must jump through to access care and support. It also could make maternal mortality rates even worse. We want to be conscientious of the way we talk about moms. We believe, first and foremost, moms need to be listened to, taken care of, and supported in their health, mental well-being, and finances. It’s the reason we continue to fund necessary emergency requests and that our strategic planning efforts focus partly on maternal mental health. Our thought has always been that taking care of moms allows their baby and family to thrive and society as a whole to function better. In this current climate, we aim to be specific, sensitive, and careful about how we discuss our work. You may see a shift in our language as we ensure it reflects our mom-centric approach. Moms are not merely a vehicle for carrying and maintaining life– they are human beings who deserve a chance to prosper. A secondary result of our work is that by focusing on mothers, babies have opportunities their parents did not and ultimately become well-rounded members of the greater community.
We stand with women, we believe in women, we support women, and at Friends, we do our part to contribute to the health and safety of moms. Thank you for standing with moms as we support their dreams of a better life for themselves and their babies.