Mamdani slams pregnancy centers, promises 'baby baskets' to 'increase trust in government'

During his 2025 campaign, New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani attacked pro-life pregnancy centers (which exist to support mothers by supplying them with years' worth of diapers and other material goods and resources), while his campaign promised "Finnish-style" baby boxes to new mothers.

Outgoing Mayor Eric Adams launched a similar program at four of the city's public hospitals. Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso, who sponsored a pilot program of 500 “Born in Brooklyn” baby boxes in 2022, claimed at the time, "This is a sacred act to have a baby … We want to make sure the last thing you are thinking about is a box of diapers.”

Key Takeaways:

• Mamdani's baby basket program seeks to give a box of baby items to every new mother in New York City each year, regardless of need.

• But while signaling support for mothers in one breath, Mamdani has smeared the work of pregnancy resource centers, which offer mothers years' worth of material goods, along with resources, medical assistance, and other services.

• He made it clear that he wants to give the boxes out to increase trust in the government; if he can successfully shut down pregnancy resource centers in NYC, women may have no choice but to depend upon the government for far more than a single box of supplies to welcome a newborn.

The Details:

Alexandra Lange wrote at Bloomberg.com — ironically, founded and majority-owned by the fervently pro-abortion former NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg:

The outside of the NYC Baby Boxes — the ones spearheaded by Adams’s City Hall — features a custom graphic of the cityscape, including brownstones, tenements, elevator buildings and the distinctive spires of the Chrysler Building and One World Trade. Same for the many-pocketed canvas diaper bag inside the box. Floating above the graphics are abstract sleeping babies, well swaddled and capped. A proprietary onesie and hat declare, “NYC loves me.”

Also in the box: gauze swaddles, starred one-piece PJs and more gender-neutral onesies, plus almost 100 diapers in two sizes, diaper rash cream, three packages of wipes, a towel and Cetaphil baby wash, a thermometer and grooming kit. For the birthing parent there are maxipads, nursing pads and soothing lanolin ointment. Guides for mothers and new families plus a copy of Margaret Hurd Brown’s classic Goodnight Moon, provided by United Way of New York City, round out the offerings.

Lange's article also portrays Mamdani's platform as "child-centric."

According to reports, including the Catholic News Agency:

[Mamdani] has promised to double city tax funding for the New York Abortion Access Fund and the city’s Abortion Access Hub. He has also vowed to “protect New Yorkers from” pro-life pregnancy centers, which he accused of spreading “false or deceptive information.”

Yet, in October, Mamdani held a press conference announcing a citywide "baby baskets" program that would cost "less than $20 million a year." The families of the 125,000 babies born in New York City each year will receive a box including diapers, diaper rash cream, a thermometer, and guides for new mothers concerning postpartum maternal mortality. One of his motives for the program is "increasing trust in government."

By The Numbers:

This initiative is a smaller version of what pregnancy resource centers have been providing to women for decades, largely thanks to donor funding. According to the newly released 2025 National Pregnancy Center Report, the 2,775 pregnancy centers in the U.S. provided over $452 million in total medical care, support and education services, and material goods in just one year — 2024. Material goods support given by pregnancy centers increased by 48% over 2022, and client satisfaction rose to 98%.

The Bloomberg article stated, "Other programs operated by New York City [Health + Hospitals] provide car seats and cribs to new parents in need on a case-by-case basis. There is no program, as of yet, that donates strollers, the ultimate New York baby conveyance, though the box does include an Infantino baby carrier — a convenient option until New York expands its bus open stroller program or installs more subway elevators."

In 2024, pregnancy centers provided more than six million packs of diapers, 1.6 million packs of wipes, nearly five million baby outfits, as well as formula, new car seats, and cribs. Services included more than half a million ultrasounds, STD/STI tests, and pregnancy tests, in addition to prenatal and parenting education classes. Other services included childbirth classes, prenatal care, well-woman exams, and breastfeeding consultations.

Only 18% of pregnancy centers received any form of federal or state funding. Yet, they were able to assist 1,012,976 new clients in addition to their already existing clients.

The Bottom Line:

“As a family physician, I greatly value services that improve maternal/fetal health and women’s health overall," said Dr. Karen Poehailos, assistant medical director at the National Institute for Family and Life Advocates. "Pregnancy centers do incredible work towards both of these ends. They provide services to women that improve maternity care and pregnancy outcomes, including sexual risk avoidance and STI testing/treatment." She noted:

The increase in new clients over the past eight years points to the fact that women trust the care provided to them in these settings.

But because they don't commit abortions or refer for abortions, Mamdani and other pro-abortion politicians want to shut them down.

That certainly doesn't seem very "child-centric."