Press Release
Gatchalian seeks health interventions for vulnerable infants, mothers amid looming baby boom
While the Commission on Population and Development (POPCOM) expects the uptick of lockdown babies to peak in the first half of 2021, Senator Win Gatchalian reiterated the urgency of providing health and nutrition interventions for vulnerable infants and mothers, especially those in far-flung and poverty-stricken areas.
Gatchalian explained that these interventions and programs are provided for under the Kalusugan at Nutrisyon ng Mag-Nanay Act (Republic Act 11148) or the First 1,000 Days Law, which aims to scale up nutrition intervention programs in the first 1,000 days of a child s life, from conception up to the second birthday. The law gives priority to those who are living in unserved and underserved communities.
It was hard and it was something I just knew right away, remembers Jenn Chalifoux. She was 18 and on leave from college, at home in Long Island to receive treatment for anorexia, when she realized she was pregnant. Since a common side effect of anorexia is amenorrhea (a cessation of the menstrual cycle), missed periods didn t sound the alarm bell. She was surrounded by doctors, having blood work frequently, and on birth control. It didn t even occur to me that I might [be pregnant], she recalls. My medical team thought my menstrual cycle would return as I progressed in my recovery. When it didn t, months into her treatment, Chalifoux took a pregnancy test at a friend s house. It came back positive and a follow-up appointment with her doctor revealed that she was well into her second trimester. It was a shock.
Boston, Massachusetts, state House https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massachusetts#/media/File:Boston -Massachusetts State House (48718911666).jpg | Wikipedia/Ajay Suresh licensed under CC BY 2.0
As companion bills aimed at allowing abortion up until the moment of birth continue to be stalled, Massachusetts lawmakers are now working to insert an amendment into the state budget that would accomplish the same goal.
State Representative Claire Cronin, the co-chair of the Joint Committee on the Judiciary, filed Amendment 759, which would be added to the annual budget bill. The leadership of both houses of the Massachusetts General Court have spoken out in favor of the amendment, which is similar to the ROE Act that failed.