We have countless laws that claim to protect unborn life. Laws that govern what a pregnant person can and cannot do. But where is that same energy once those babies are born?

The Department of Health and Human Services just quietly eliminated the Advisory Committee on Heritable Disorders in Newborns and Children — the very group that, for the past 15 years, has helped decide what potentially life-threatening conditions all newborns should be screened for. This decision was made without public input, without transparency, and without care for the babies whose lives hang in the balance.

This isn’t just a bureaucratic shuffle. This is about real children. Children like Austin, who died of Duchenne muscular dystrophy at 26 after a late diagnosis. And children like his younger brother Max, who was diagnosed at birth and got earlier treatment — and as a result, lived a fuller, longer, more independent life.

Newborn screening saves lives. Every year, 14,000 babies in this country are diagnosed through this process. But that only happens if we keep updating the list of what we screen for.

The now-defunct committee was about to vote on adding metachromatic leukodystrophy (MLD) and Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) to the federal screening panel — two devastating disorders that now have treatments.

That vote is now gone. That opportunity? Gone. For the babies born tomorrow, and the day after, it could mean a death sentence.

Without this committee, we are turning our backs on science. On babies born in states that rely on federal guidance to offer comprehensive screenings. Without it, we are leaving newborn health in the dust.

Secretary Kennedy claims to care about children’s health. Then prove it. Reinstate the Advisory Committee. Let doctors, not politics, guide our decisions. Let science, not executive orders, shape our care. Don’t punish newborns for being born.

These are the most vulnerable among us. Their lives are worth protecting after they leave the womb too.

Sign to demand immediate restoration of the Advisory Committee on Heritable Disorders in Newborns and Children. Our babies deserve better.