HHS Issues Grants to Title X Providers It Is Actively Trying to Kick Out of the Title X Program

HHS Issues Grants to Planned Parenthood and Other Reproductive Health Care Providers Even As It Rushes to Finalize the Gag Rule That Would Prevent Such Health Care Providers from Serving Patients With Those Grants

Washington, DC — The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced Title X grant awards for FY 2018; each Planned Parenthood affiliate who applied received a grant. This comes at the same time as the agency is rushing to finalize a domestic gag rule that would make it impossible for Planned Parenthood health centers and other providers to continue participating in the Title X program at all.   

Statement from Dawn Laguens, Executive Vice President of Planned Parenthood Federation of America:

Don’t be fooled — the Trump-Pence administration is doing everything it can to block access to reproductive health care, including birth control, at Planned Parenthood. Even as HHS announces these important grants for health care, it is rushing to finalize a domestic gag rule that would take that care away. By pushing the gag rule, HHS is trying to undermine a program that four million people depend on for essential reproductive health care. The unethical gag rule would remake the Title X program and put millions of people’s health at risk. Planned Parenthood will not stop fighting for our patients, no matter what. Unlike the Trump-Pence administration, we believe all people deserve access to health care, regardless of who they are, where they live, or how much money they make, and regardless of their race, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, or immigration status. As a trusted health care provider, Planned Parenthood will always put the interests of patients first.

Title X is the nation’s program for affordable birth control and reproductive health care that serves four million people each year. Since the program started in 1970, it has garnered broad, bipartisan support year after year. Title X is meant to ensure that every person — regardless of where they live, how much money they make, what their background is, or whether or not they have health insurance — has access to basic, preventive reproductive health care, such as birth control, cancer screenings, STI testing and treatment, and well-woman exams. Title X is an important safety net for people who would otherwise go without health care. This includes communities of color and people with low incomes, two groups that historically face more barriers to care and are less likely to have health insurance. Planned Parenthood health centers serve 41 percent of the patients who get care through the Title X program, while making up only about 13 percent of the Title X health centers.

In May, the Trump-Pence administration introduced a proposed gag rule on Title X. The gag rule would prohibit doctors and nurses in the Title X program across the country from telling their patients how and where they can access safe, legal abortion. It would also impose new restrictions designed to make it impossible for patients to get birth control or preventive care from reproductive health care providers like Planned Parenthood. It would also drastically undercut access to birth control across the country by emphasizing that Title X projects need not offer their patients a full range of FDA-approved birth control but can exclude methods of their choosing, or even that they can offer birth control that is not “medically approved.” It also opens the door to allowing deceptive anti-abortion counseling centers to take the place of comprehensive reproductive health care providers in the program.

As an article in Bloomberg Law reports, the gag rule is being “rushed through the regulatory review process.” The Title X gag rule is now in the comment review stage. If and when it is finalized, most provisions would likely go into effect 60 days after the final rule is posted. Once the unethical gag rule is implemented, it would be impossible for Planned Parenthood and a number of other providers in the Title X program to participate and continue to serve patients.

The gag rule is opposed by the vast majority of the health care community, with the American Medical Association saying the gag rule would “dangerously interfere with the patient-physician relationship and conflict with physicians’ ethical obligations, exclude qualified providers, and jeopardize public health.” In addition, nearly 500,000 comments were submitted in opposition to the harmful gag rule.

Since taking office, Donald Trump and Mike Pence have pushed policy after policy to take away basic rights and health care. Among other things, they have: issued a rule to allow employers to deny birth control coverage to their employees, ended protections for survivors of sexual assault on campus, tried to eliminate the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program, tried to block women from getting care at Planned Parenthood, and appointed officials who don’t believe women should use birth control to oversee our nation’s program dedicated to affordable birth control and reproductive health care.

A significant proportion of Title X patients identify as members of racial or ethnic communities that often face significant health challenges due to systemic inequities, including Black and African American patients (21 percent), and Hispanic and Latino patients (32 percent).

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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 more than 600 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.