The Biden Administration has opened public comment on New Proposed Rule Making (NPRM) to determine eligibility for the federal family planning program funding (Title X).
Established in 1970 by President Nixon with bipartisan support, the Title X family planning program increased access to critical sexual and reproductive health services among low-income Americans. As a result, millions of patients have found affordable wellness and preventive care, birth control, and STI testing and treatment with Title X providers over the decades.
In 2019, the Trump-Pence administration implemented the “Domestic Gag Rule,” which led to a mass exodus from the national family planning network. The domestic gag rule:
1.Required any clinic that gets Title X funds to be totally physically and financially separate from any organization that provides or refers to abortion services. This rule change made it impossible for health care providers who offer abortion care to stay on the program.
2. Eliminated the requirement that Title X sites provide comprehensive counseling about pregnancy options.
3. Prohibits Title X health care providers from referring patients to abortion services.
According to the Kaiser Family Foundation research, the Gag Rule led to roughly 25% of former Title X clinics leaving the program. The study also found that the Title X program served over 800,000 fewer patients during the first year of the Gag Rule compared to the year prior.
This devastating rule change not only used abortion as a wedge issue and increased stigma; it also put essential health care services farther out of reach for low-income and marginalized communities.
With a change in administration, we now have a chance to repeal the Gag Rule and call for deeper investment in the federal family planning program for the long haul.
GRR! is making it easy for you to submit a comment by simply signing our digital petition and adding custom comments as you wish.
You can share how access to or barriers in accessing family planning impacted your life, your loved ones, or the communities you serve in your work. The comment period is open until On May 17th. GRR! will submit all comments to the Federal Register on your behalf, our dedicated activists. Please take action today!
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