Power To Decide Raises Concerns About Title X Funding
(Washington, D.C.) — Power to Decide, the campaign to prevent unplanned pregnancy, expressed concerns about The Trump Administration’s recent announcement regarding the Title X Family program because of its emphasis on natural family planning (also known as fertility awareness methods) and abstinence over other FDA approved methods of contraception.
The $260 million funding opportunity announcement (FOA) for Title X does not include support for more effective methods of contraception, such as hormonal and long-acting methods. The announcement also fails to mention the Quality Family Planning recommendations, which are the national standard of clinical care for family planning services produced by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the U.S. Office of Population Affairs.
In response, Ginny Ehrlich, CEO of Power to Decide, issued the following statement:
“For nearly 5 decades, Title X has played a critical role in preventing unplanned pregnancy by offering low-income and uninsured individuals access to high-quality contraceptive services, preventive screenings, and health education and information. The Family Planning Program funding announcement issued this past Friday has the potential to weaken high quality contraceptive care, which would be a major step backwards in a woman’s ability to decide if, when, and under what circumstances to get pregnant.”
“We are concerned that the Administration’s shifts in program priorities towards less effective methods, namely natural family planning, could result in funding going to providers that offer only a limited range of contraceptive methods, and away from the providers able to offer high quality contraceptive care that includes the full range of methods. Already, more than 19 million U.S. women in need of publicly funded birth control live in contraceptive deserts, where they do not have reasonable access to a public clinic that offers the full range of methods in the counties in which they live. Let’s not exacerbate this already challenging situation for millions more women.”
For more information about the Title X Family Planning Program, please go here.
Power to Decide is a private, non-partisan, non-profit organization that works to ensure all people—no matter who they are, where they live, or what their economic status might be—have the power to decide if, when, and under what circumstances to get pregnant. Please visit us at www.PowerToDecide.org or follow us on Facebook and Twitter.