Power to Decide Urges Senate Support for Expanding Access to Family Planning Act
(Washington, D.C.) — Power to Decide joins reproductive health organizations across the country in endorsing the Expanding Access to Family Planning Act, introduced this morning by Senators Tina Smith and Patty Murray, and slated for consideration by unanimous consent in the U.S. Senate on Thursday. Among its provisions, the bill would ensure $500 million in funding for Title X Family Planning Program services over each of the next 10 years. It would also make funding available for constructing new health clinics and maintaining existing clinics, and restore federal regulations that prohibit discrimination against providers who deliver Title X services.
The following statement can be attributed to Power to Decide CEO Raegan McDonald-Mosley, MD, MPH:
“For more than 50 years, the Title X Family Planning Program has played a significant role in supporting reproductive health and well-being by providing affordable, high-quality health care, preventive screenings and birth control to people struggling to make ends meet. Unfortunately, it has also been subject to political attacks in recent years, making it even harder for people to get the care they need. The Expanding Access to Family Planning Act will go a long way toward not only restoring much-needed funding to Title X, but also ensuring its funding remains in place for the next decade. We at Power to Decide thank Senators Smith and Murray for all of their hard work, and we urge their colleagues to support this important bill.”
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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 or have a child.