From Sparta to MAGA: How Fascists Weaponize Motherhood

This $5,000 “baby bonus” is just the latest in a long line of coercive, authoritarian tactics.

---

I was texting a friend last week, and she wrote back, “I was waiting to see if you were going to have a piece about the $5,000 bonus for women having kids (along with the dumb f*ck medal proposal too). Did I miss something around that?”^⁠¹

I assured her that no, she didn’t miss anything. I just hadn’t had time to scream about it publicly yet. Work is busy, and honestly, the sheer absurdity of the $5,000 baby bonus proposal has taken my breath away. This isn’t support; it’s manipulation. This isn’t about helping mothers — it’s about controlling them.

Then @motherforward asked me to calculate my receipts. This isn’t the first time I’ve been asked to tally the costs of care, but this organization is one of my new favorites, and I love how they are building power. So I said yes. My total came to $278,879, and I know I forgot things. That number includes only a rough estimate of what it’s taken to raise my son. Social safety net programs like Medicaid and WIC helped reduce the burden, but didn’t change the system designed to keep women in place.

So, what’s going on? Apparently, the U.S. birth rate is declining. Honestly, I had no idea. We live on a planet nearing 8 billion people, so the idea that one country might have a population issue feels like a red herring. Either way, President Trump recently praised Vice President Vance for proposing a one-time $5,000 payment to new moms. They claim it’s about “supporting families” and “honoring motherhood.”