STATEMENT ON RELEASE OF FINAL TITLE X DOMESTIC GAG RULE

Press release

STATEMENT ON RELEASE OF FINAL TITLE X DOMESTIC GAG RULE

February 22, 2019

(Washington, D.C.) —Today, the Trump administration issued the final rule for the Title X Family Planning Program, commonly referred to as the “domestic gag rule.” The final rule disallows Title X funding to provide high-quality, affordable contraceptive services in health centers that also offer abortion services, unless those services are offered at a physically separate site. In addition, the rule allows health providers at sites that receive Title X funds to not provide information about abortion alongside other pregnancy options, as well as effectively banning providers from referring for abortion.

In response, Ginny Ehrlich, CEO, Power to Decide, issued the following statement:

“Playing politics with people’s health is bad policy. The final rule issued by the Trump Administration today does just that. The rule restricts providers’ ability to provide quality health care and strips people of the power to decide on and access the health care they deserve and need.

“At Power to Decide, we believe that all people no matter who they are and where they live should have the power to decide if, when and under what circumstances to get pregnant and have a child. This rule strips access to high-quality reproductive health care provided by Title X funding, including contraception, STI screenings, Pap tests and cancer screenings at the health centers low income and uninsured people currently depend on. Too often, health centers are the only facilities available where these populations can access affordable contraception and reproductive health care. With this rule, it is likely that many of these facilities will be forced to close or otherwise limit their scope of health services hurting uninsured and low-income women the most.

“Already, more than 19 million women in need of publicly funded contraception live in contraceptive deserts, counties in which there is not reasonable access to a public clinic that offers the full range of contraceptive methods. This new rule will undoubtedly exacerbate this challenge and make accessing birth control and other vital reproductive health services for the most marginalized among us even more difficult. 

“By allowing providers to not discuss the full spectrum of reproductive health care available to their patients, including abortion, and effectively banning them from referring for the procedure, the rule diminishes the trust between provider and patient. This break down of trust will result in patients becoming less likely to seek proper care and will have a devastating impact on people’s ability to access quality reproductive health care.”

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 and have a child. Please visit us at www.PowerToDecide.org or follow us on Facebook and Twitter.