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Sheppard-Towner Maternity and Infancy Act
The Sheppard-Towner Maternity and Infancy Act of 1921 is a federal law signed by President Warren Harding (R) on November 23, 1921, that established federal grants for state-sponsored programs aimed at protecting women and children's health. The law provided federal grants to participating states to establish educational programs and preventative health programs for maternal and infant health. The act expired in 1929.[1][2]
Background
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The Sheppard-Towner Maternity and Infancy Act was established by Congress in 1921 in an effort to reduce maternal and infant mortality rates. The proposal of this bill followed a 1917 report from the U.S. Department of Labor Children's Bureau, which recommended the creation of a federal program to provide education and resources to prevent the deaths of infants and mothers. The report focused on the effect that federal funds and programs could have on rural areas where "pregnant women and infants... were at higher than normal risk of death due to a lack of access to nurses and hospitals."[2]
Several bills were proposed in Congress between 1918 and 1920 to promote maternity and infancy programs, but they did not pass. The Sheppard-Towner Maternity and Infancy Act was proposed by Morris Sheppard (D-Texas) and Horace Towner (R-Iowa) with the goal of distributing federal funds to states to establish educational programs and health care for mothers and infants. The bill was passed by Congress in 1921. Forty-one states had established federally funded programs under the act by 1922.[2]
After the initial five-year period for the act, a two-year extension of the federal funds was passed in 1927. The act was not renewed after the extension and the funds, therefore, expired in June 1929.[2]
Commonwealth of Massachusetts v. Mellon
Commonwealth of Massachusetts v. Mellon was a case decided by the United States Supreme Court on June 4, 1923, that upheld the constitutionality of the Maternity Act in regard to the additional taxation it could impose on individuals. The Supreme Court unanimously decided "that the administration of federal statutes 'likely to produce addition [sic] taxation to be imposed upon a vast number of taxpayers' was essentially a matter of public and not of individual concern."[3]
Impact
The Sheppard-Towner Maternity and Infancy Act was successful in reducing infant mortality rates during the time it was in effect, according to The Embryo Project Encyclopedia.[2]
The Social Security Act was amended in 1939 to include federal matching grants for states to establish programs to protect maternal and infant health. The amendment was modeled after the Sheppard-Towner Maternity and Infancy Act.[2][4]
Provisions
The final version of the bill allocated $5,000 in annual federal grants to participating states and $1.2 million in federal matching grants for five years. The bill also stipulated that the Children's Bureau could provide educational programs and preventative health programs, but not medical care.[2][5]
The full text of the bill is included here:
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ History, Art & Archives, "The Sheppard-Towner Maternity and Infancy Act," accessed October 17, 2022
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 The Embryo Project Encyclopedia, "Sheppard-Towner Maternity and Infancy Protect Act (1921)," May 18, 2015
- ↑ Oyez, "Commonwealth of Massachusetts v. Mellon," accessed October 17, 2022
- ↑ Amendment to the Social Security Act of 1935, accessed October 17, 2022
- ↑ U.S. Department of Labor Children's Bureau, "The promotion of the welfare and hygiene of maternity and infancy," accessed October 17, 2022
