Congress Takes Steps to Claw Back Protections for 4 Million Americans Who Rely on Title X, the Nation’s Family Planning Program

For Immediate Release: Jan. 31, 2017

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Washington, D.C. – Politicians in the House and Senate simultaneously introduced legislation to overturn a rule that protects health care for more than 4 million people who rely on Title X, the nation’s family planning program. The rule makes it clear that it is against the law for state politicians to block people from accessing care at a health center because the organization also provides safe, legal abortion -- including care at Planned Parenthood and other reproductive health care providers. The Obama Administration’s rule garnered widespread support in the call for public comment, with 91% of the roughly 145,000 responses in favor of the rule. Every poll shows that American people overwhelmingly support Planned Parenthood and strongly oppose these attacks. 

Planned Parenthood health centers care for approximately 1.5 million patients through Title X – roughly one third of the more than 4 million people served by the program. For many patients across the country, Planned Parenthood health centers are the only places they can turn to for reproductive health care. More than half of Planned Parenthood's health centers are in rural and underserved communities. 

This comes as extremists like Vice President Mike Pence and Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) have threatened to “defund” Planned Parenthood at the federal level and cut off health care for millions. 

It is already illegal to bar Planned Parenthood patients from accessing care through Title X and other government programs, as courts in Florida and Ohio found just this past summer. To date, every court to consider the issue on the merits has ruled that state politicians cannot block access to care at Planned Parenthood through Title X.

Statement from Cecile Richards, president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America:

“Extremists in Congress are trying to make it easier for state politicians to block women from getting birth control and other preventive care. Let’s be crystal clear--it is already illegal to block people from care at Planned Parenthood and other trusted providers, as court after court has found, even before this rule.

“The past few weeks have made it clear that the American people will not stand for this kind of attack. For many of our patients, not being able to get care at a Planned Parenthood health center means that they don’t get care. This is a dangerous plan, and Planned Parenthood’s millions of supporters will not take these attacks lying down. When Congress goes home in a few weeks, you had better believe there will be people in pink hats ready to meet them at every town hall, grocery store, and public appearance.”

Title X, the nation’s family planning program, is meant to ensure that every person, regardless of where they live, how much money they make, or whether or not they have health insurance, has access to basic, preventive reproductive health care. The rule ensures those most in need – those who have very low incomes or lack health insurance – still have access to lifesaving care, such as cancer screenings, birth control, STI testing and treatment, and well-woman exams.

People with low incomes and communities of color are two groups that have historically faced systemic barriers in accessing quality health care, are less likely to have health insurance, and who benefit most from these protections. In 2014,15 percent of Planned Parenthood patients were Black, more than 360,000 people, and 23 percent of Planned Parenthood patients were Latinos, more than 575,000 people. Seventy-five percent of Planned Parenthood patients have incomes at or below 150 percent of the federal poverty level (FPL).The idea that other providers could absorb Planned Parenthood’s patients has been resoundingly dismissed by experts – in fact the executive director of the American Public Health Association called the idea “ludicrous.”

Background on Title X: 

Simply put, Title X helps ensure more than 4 million people have health care in this country. The nation’s family planning program offers preventive health care services to those most in need. This is the only way that millions of women who have low incomes or are uninsured have access to birth control, cancer screenings, STI tests, and other basic care.

• Eighty-five percent of the people served by our nation’s family planning program have incomes below 200 percent of the federal poverty level, and 48 percent are uninsured. 

• In 2015 alone, Title X provided nearly 800,000 Pap tests, breast exams to 1 million women, nearly 5 million tests for STIs, and 1 million HIV tests.   

• In fact, 6 in 10 women who access care from a family planning health center consider it their main source of health care. For 4 in 10, it’s their only source of care (source: Guttmacher).

• Approximately 1.5 million Planned Parenthood patients benefit from the nation’s family planning program, 78 percent of whom live with incomes of 150 percent of the federal poverty level or less, the equivalent of $35,775 a year for a family of four in 2014. Approximately 20 percent of these patients identify as Latino/a; and approximately 15 percent identify as Black.

Planned Parenthood’s critical role 

• Planned Parenthood health centers provide preventive care to approximately 1.5 million patients served by the nation’s family planning program. We serve roughly one-third of the program’s clients, although Planned Parenthood health centers comprise 10 percent of publicly supported safety net family planning centers. 

• Planned Parenthood health centers are located in the communities where access to care is most needed. More than half of Planned Parenthood's health centers across the U.S. are in rural and  underserved communities with limited access to health care. Seventy-five percent of Planned Parenthood patients have incomes at or below 150 percent of the federal poverty level (FPL).

• The idea that other providers could absorb Planned Parenthood’s patients has been resoundingly dismissed by experts. In fact, the executive director of the American Public Health Association called the idea “ludicrous."

• Planned Parenthood health centers are also considerably more likely to offer Title X patients a broader range of contraceptive methods than other providers. In a study of Community Health Centers (CHCs), 69 percent reported referring their patients to family planning providers, like Planned Parenthood health centers, for family planning care. 

Public health experts agree

• Following the closure of Planned Parenthood health centers in Texas, Mike Austin, chief executive of Midland Community Healthcare Services (MCHS) says: “I hate to say it, but I think an awful lot of women just opted to go without care.” He goes on, “We are seeing a subsequent rise in STDs and a subsequent rise in unplanned pregnancies. And I’m sitting here going, ‘See? I told you so. This is what happens.’”

• “Over the last 100 years, Planned Parenthood has played a critical role in advancing public health in this country," said Georges C. Benjamin, MD, executive director of the American Public Health Association. "For a century, their leadership and dedication to increasing access to the full range of reproductive health services has not wavered. Planned Parenthood is an integral part of our nation’s health system."

• For many women in America, Planned Parenthood is the only place where they are able to get needed quality care." – Mark S. DeFrancesco, MD, MBA, FACOG, immediate past president of the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists 

• "Put simply, it takes the entire spectrum of providers, including Planned Parenthood, to meet the needs of the growing population of low-income people without access to reproductive and other basic health care services. We work in conjunction with Planned Parenthood for family-planning and HIV services. We do referrals back and forth, so that people can receive services in the setting that they're most comfortable.” –  Randall Ellis, senior director of government relations for Houston, TX FQHC Legacy Com­munity Health Services 

• “The assertion that community health centers could step into a breach of this magnitude is simply wrong and displays a fundamental misunderstanding of how the health care system works.” - Sara Rosenbaum, J.D., Founding Chair of the Department of Health Policy at George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health 

• “You can’t just cut Planned Parenthood off one day and expect everyone across the city to absorb the patients.”  – saidStephanie Taylor, Louisiana State Office of Public Health

Blocking care at Planned Parenthood has devastating consequences

• After Kansas defunded Planned Parenthood and other reproductive health care providers, the number of people accessing birth control, cancer screenings, STI tests, well-woman exams, and other care through the Title X program fell by more than 14,000. 

• A recent study in theNew England Journal of Medicine showed that blocking patients from going to Planned Parenthood in Texas was associated with a 35% decline in women in publicly funded programs using the most effective methods of birth control and a dramatic 27% increase in births among women who had previously accessed injectable contraception through those programs. 

• Blocking patients from care at health centers has a disproportionate impact on communities of color, who already face systemic barriers in accessing quality health care. For example, in Texas, researchers found that more than half of women reported at least one barrier to reproductive health care. Spanish-speaking women from Mexico were more likely to report three or more barriers.

 

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Planned Parenthood is the nation’s leading provider and advocate of high-quality, affordable health care for women, men, and young people, as well as the nation’s largest provider of sex education. With over 650 health centers across the country, Planned Parenthood organizations serve all patients with care and compassion, with respect and without judgment. Through health centers, programs in schools and communities, and online resources, Planned Parenthood is a trusted source of reliable health information that allows people to make informed health decisions. We do all this because we care passionately about helping people lead healthier lives.