Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey is seeking $2 million to expand Welcome Family statewide, sharply increasing access to nurse visits after childbirth. The proposal would move a program serving approximately 3,000 births annually toward availability following roughly 68,000 births each year.

The expansion has revived a warning Phyllis Schlafly issued 27 years ago about government backed home visits for new mothers. The conservative activist and grassroots women’s leader questioned whether such programs could intrude on family privacy.

“Are the American people willing to allow government agents to come into their homes to ‘advise’ them how to care for their babies?” Schlafly wrote in a March 1999 column titled, “Watch out for ‘Big Sister’ as Well as ‘Big Brother.’”

The proposal follows the Lindsay Clancy case, which drew intense attention to maternal mental illness. Clancy does not dispute that she killed her children, Cora, 5, Dawson, 3, and Callan, 8 months, inside their Duxbury home in 2023.

Clancy’s lawyers argued that she experienced postpartum psychosis and was not criminally responsible. Prosecutors maintained that she knew her actions were wrong, but the jury deadlocked and the case ended in a mistrial.

Anne Schlafly, chairman of Eagle Forum and Phyllis Schlafly’s daughter, said her mother’s warning now carries renewed relevance. “My mother was very prescient about the things that could happen if we let government intrude into our family lives,” she told Fox News Digital.

Phyllis Schlafly’s 1999 column focused on Healthy Families America and similar home visiting programs. She warned about initiatives that screened families for risk factors, connected parents with health and social services, and brought parenting guidance into private homes.

She also questioned whether programs described as voluntary would remain voluntary in practice. Massachusetts currently describes Welcome Family participation as voluntary and presents the nurse visits as health and support services rather than inspections.

According to state descriptions, nurses assess the health of newborns, parents and caregivers. They also answer newborn care questions, screen for postpartum mental health concerns and connect families with additional services.

Massachusetts lists “ensuring that your home is safe” among the subjects nurses may discuss with parents. However, the program’s family information page does not identify specific criteria used to evaluate home safety.

The state calls Welcome Family an “entry point into the system of care” for families with newborns. Healthy Families America is among the models listed under the broader Massachusetts Home Visiting Initiative, although it is separate from Welcome Family.

Healey described a broad vision for the expansion during an interview on Boston Public Radio. “Everybody in the state, when you have a baby, you’re going to have a home visit within days, weeks, and that will be an opportunity for a healthcare provider to make an assessment to see if you need some additional support and resources,” she said.

Anne Schlafly questioned whether parents shortly after childbirth can provide meaningful consent. “Is it really voluntary if you don’t have true informed consent?” she asked, citing labor, sedation and the circumstances in which a mother might agree to participate.

“I think mothers need to have the full disclosure that this would be a government agent in the home,” Schlafly said. She also criticized the scale of an expansion that would use taxpayer money to hire more people and send them into family homes.

State officials have pointed to results from the program already operating in Massachusetts. In 2025, Welcome Family offered 1,620 postpartum depression screenings, with 208 positive results, and the state said everyone who screened positively received a referral for services.

Schlafly said she does not oppose families choosing to receive assistance, but she drew a firm line at compulsory participation. “I would say the only way that this Massachusetts program could be acceptable is if the parents could opt out at any time,” she said.

Massachusetts materials describe the program as voluntary. Fox News Digital contacted Healey’s office seeking comment and clarification about whether parents may decline visits, what information nurses collect and whether that information can be shared with other state agencies.

Schlafly said her mother would advise Massachusetts parents to reject people seeking to inspect their homes. She argued that the home is private and sacred, adding, “Let’s leave her to the state house and not the kitchen table.”