The Heritage Foundation’s new policy paper, “Saving America by Saving the Family,” seems to have ruffled the feathers of New York Times (NYT) opinion writer Jessica Grose.
The paper claims the family “is the foundation of civilization, and marriage—the committed union of one man and one woman—is its cornerstone.” It proposes policies to encourage family formation.
Grose takes issue with the paper for the slightest of faults. For instance, Heritage notes that the Founding Fathers “were, quite literally, fathers: Fifty-four of the 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence married and had a total of 337 children among them — an average of six each.”
Grose objects: “Are they counting the six children Thomas Jefferson had with Sally Hemings — whom he enslaved and who could not legally refuse unwanted sex — or not? What kind of example is that supposed to set?” (RELATED: Joy Reid Calls Founding Fathers ‘Leeches,’ ‘Killers’ In Resurfaced Rant)
Accepting that Jefferson did father six children with Hemings — a claim that is in contention — Jefferson also had six children with his wife, Martha.
You might also point to the men who signed the Declaration of Independence and did not have children with slaves. I sincerely doubt The Heritage Foundation is encouraging men to procure children via extramarital means. Or own slaves.
Nearly half of American children are not being raised in a two-parent household.
https://t.co/yhBj3vdtgH #family pic.twitter.com/Jx9bLABmGs— Heritage DataViz (@HeritageDataViz) January 9, 2026
One of Grose’s primary arguments against Heritage’s report is that it is “retrograde.” It is “unable to face the past 60 years of change.” She critiques the authors for quoting a Daily Mail article from 2008, which she describes as a “questionable, nearly 20-year-old article.” She adds that two National Institutes of Health (NIH) studies cited by the authors are “from 1998 and 1999.” The article’s headline reads: “The Heritage Foundation Wants to Send American Women Back Half a Century[.]” (RELATED: ROOKE: Raise Your Children With True Love)
(The art beneath the headline depicts a poster of a blonde, blue-eyed family, curled up at the corner to reveal a white-ish hand grasping a terrified brown family. Subtle as ever.)
Grose takes pains to impress upon the reader that these ideas are old. And therefore, immoral or stupid or wrong. Progress with a capital ‘P’ demands such logic.
Heritage, in their paper, asks the obvious, essential question: “The question that will determine the course of America’s future is: What happens to a nation when its citizens largely stop having children and eschew marriage?”
Follow Natalie Sandoval on X: @NatSandovalDC
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