Being a working mom is not easy, in fact, it’s one of the most challenging things Karoline Leavitt has ever done. But this is a season of life, the Assistant to the President and White House Press Secretary said, and she knows one day her young son will see pictures with him on the floor of the Oval Office, and she hopes he will be proud of his mother.
Leavitt delivered remarks on motherhood and expressed gratitude for those who serve in pregnancy help at a briefing along with other Trump administration officials for a group gathered in the Nation’s Capital for Heartbeat International’s Babies Go to Congress.
With the Babies Go to Congress, Heartbeat, the largest network of pregnancy help organizations in the U.S. and globally, brings moms and their children along with pregnancy help personnel, to Washington D.C. to meet with federal lawmakers and staff to share their personal stories of pregnancy help to convey how pregnancy centers are good for America.
The Nov. 4 briefing in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building was hosted apart from the Heartbeat meetings on Capitol Hill by the White House Office of Public Liaison, and in addition to Leavitt, it included Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Scott Turner, Deputy Assistant to the President and Deputy Director of the Office of Domestic Policy Council Dr. Heidi Overton, and White House Director of Media Affairs Sonny Joy Nelson. Each member of the Administration staff affirmed pro-life policies and encouraged individuals working in pregnancy help and those served by it.
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Along with Leavitt, Sonny Joy Nelson had also shared her perspective being among the working mothers with young children in the Administration to illustrate that women do not have to sacrifice their dreams because they become mothers.
“I hope that my example as a working mom, and Sonny, and so many of the women that the president has empowered here at the White House and across the Administration, can really serve as an example and an inspiration for other young women that you can do both,” Leavitt said. “It's not easy, but you don't have to choose between having a child and a family and your career.”
Acknowledging again that it's not easy and that one needs support, Leavitt explained that she has help from her mother and her husband.
“So, it's not an easy thing to do, but it can be done,” she said.
Leavitt said she loves talking to other women about it, because it’s something that only someone who has been in the situation can relate to, recognizing too that not everyone has the choice of whether to work.
“And every day is a challenge when you're leaving the house and kissing your baby goodbye,” Leavitt said. “But you’ve got to go to work and there's no choice. And so, you have to show up and make a living and help provide for your family and all the things.”
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She thanked the pregnancy help personnel for what they do to encourage women to bring life into the world and to have the blessing of being a mom.
“Because there's no greater right, there's no greater responsibility and there's no greater blessing, as we all know,” said Levitt, “just the love you have for your child when you're a mom. I don't need to explain it to you, but it exceeds all understanding and it's just the best thing in the world.”
Leavitt touched on different efforts from the Administration pertinent to pregnancy help, including a private investment account initiative in the works to assist mothers, the FDA’s review of mifepristone, the Justice Department’s efforts in support of states’ rights to defund abortion providers, and Administration’s work to cease U.S. funding of abortion abroad, with “much more to come” on this issue.
Leavitt gave assurances that the president, vice president, the “whole team here are unequivocally supportive of life and are very grateful for what you do to encourage it in your communities across the country.”
“And thanks for what you do to all be great mamas,” she told the moms. “There's no greater job in the world.”
Editor's note: Heartbeat International manages Pregnancy Help News.
