The current Minister is Kingsley Shacklebolt. At the moment, I haven't decided if he's actively endorsing this program, or if it's a case of the left hand not knowing what the right hand is doing.

I like the correlation you found with King Herod, though that wasn't what I actually based this premise on. My idea sprung from the more recent Prima Nocte edict handed down by King Edward I of England, when British military tactics Epic Failed on conquering the Scots. If you can't stomp them out, breed them out, basically.

 Whether or not Voldemort would realize he was using a Muggle tactic, I'm not sure. He'd been pretty much bug-nuts by then, so I'd say it's 50/50 that he wasn't aware of the previous use of the tactic, or if he was fully aware and found it nicely ironic to use a Muggle method against their own so-called 'dirty blood'.

As far as who's doing the testing, you're right, I can't see St. Mungo's doing the testing, especially when it's made clear what it's for. I assume they have some version of the Hippocratic oath, 'First, do no harm'. My guess (and this will likely all be fleshed out later in the story) is that it's some sub-division of the Auror Department, maybe even the Unspeakables (the name's gotta mean something, right?).

And I wouldn't be horribly surprised if there weren't a few rotten apples messing with the results in some cases due to personal vendettas and whatnot.

As far as the mothers pitching a fit and all, the general idea is that it's already ongoing, and that there HAS been resistence, hence the death sentence for mothers who refuse to give up their babies. Obviously, they must be Death Eater sympathizers, and guilty by association--at least according to those in charge of the program.

And yes, there is likely to be a mass exodus of families who haven't registered or been tested, and possibly even those who are willing to protect and hide them, sort of like an Underground Railroad type of thing, except instead of smuggling out slaves or muggleborns/halfbloods, they'll be smuggling out women and their families who were involved in Voldemort's breeding program.

As far as it being publicized...with the implication that some of the babies' mothers resisted and 'had' to be killed, I think it was made public on purpose, so the Ministry could control what was initially said, instead of having someone send in furious letters to the paper and having those published before the Ministry could put its own spin on the situation. The Daily Prophet is still very much in the Ministry's pocket, but some of their reporters, like the aforementioned Rita Skeeter, would throw them over in a second for more sensationalized news.

 With regard to loopholes, yes, Harry and Hermione will definitely be looking for those, as well as ways of keeping Ciaran off of the radar altogether. I doubt they will be satisfied with a loophole for him, when the Ministry may come back at a later date and find some quasi-logical reason for it not to apply.

As the program is more widely known, I anticipate there being a lot of desperate parents trying to save their babies by any means possible, so we'll see. A sudden increase in abandoned babies may or may not happen--it would stand to reason that would look suspicious, and abandoned babies might start being automatically assumed to belong to Death Eaters, and then they'd be no better off.

 I am working on all of these angles--despite it having been so long since I've updated, I haven't abandoned the story.

I just live in Tornado Alley, and we've had a very rough couple of months with multiple Evil-Storms-From-Hell, and we're just getting to the point where there aren't holes in the house, power poles snapped and tangled in live power lines, and 75+ year old trees down all over the yard, so up til recently, I haven't had any time to write between work and cleanup. It's been utterly insane!

Thank you very much for the long and detailed review. I love it when I can see the wheels spinning in my readers' heads, and know that I've accomplished making you get invested in the story.

Lol, the problems are what makes the story!

But, don't think Harry is going to take it lying down, because he's absolutely not.

 Thanks for the review!

Glad you're enjoying it!

The Ministry isn't known for being all that level-headed at the best of times. But, it's a government, so keep in mind that not all parts of the Ministry are necessarily in agreement with everything it does. And, I'm basing parts of it off of real government, so the Child Welfare division is pretty autonomous from the actual judiciary and legislative branches.

There will be lots of fallout, none of it pretty. But, it will certainly make things a good deal more difficult for everyone involved, that's for sure!

Thanks for the review!