Impacts of the Domestic Gag Rule

Fact Sheet

Impacts of the Domestic Gag Rule

A visual representation of the impact of the domestic gag rule on all 50 states.

People Most in Need Are Paying the Price


The domestic gag rule’s impact on birth control access is nothing short of catastrophic for people living on limited incomes. It means that people who have long relied on the program may have higher out of pocket costs for health care and contraception because clinics will no longer have funds to support them. People already counting every penny and struggling amidst a pandemic may need to travel longer distances to clinics offering services, take more time off work if employed, or pay for additional child care costs.

Already, women in more than 380 counties across the nation are at risk of losing access to the birth control they need because the clinic they depend on has lost its Title X funding. As more clinics are forced out of the program, this number will only rise. Since the rule began to be enforced in August 2019, stories of increased costs, shorter hours, and fewer services being offered have flooded in.

October 2020

Related Resources

Fact Sheet
Extending postpartum Medicaid coverage to one year is an important step in improving maternal health outcomes—a core component of reproductive well-being.
Correspondence
Power to Decide submitted the following letter to the White House Office of Management and Budget for consideration as it prepares the President’s FY 2025 budget.
Fact Sheet
In 2021, Title X supported clinics provided contraceptive care to 32,162 women in Arkansas. The number of women served from 2018-2021 declined by 29.1%.
Fact Sheet
This fact sheet offers details on the laws in 23 states that require insurers to increase the number of months for which they cover prescription contraceptives.