CT Congressional Delegation, Planned Parenthood of Southern New England Oppose Trump Administration’s Planned Changes to Title X Program

WASHINGTON, D.C. (May 9, 2018) – Last week, the Connecticut Congressional Delegation sent a letter to United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Alex Azar expressing their opposition to the Trump administration's proposed changes to the Title X program, which ensures that people have access to reproductive healthcare. The Trump administration's planned "domestic gag rule" would ban any healthcare provider from receiving Title X funding if they even talk about abortion or abortion-related services with their patients. Beyond banning counseling and referrals, the gag rule would also impose additional requirements that would essentially prohibit providers that perform abortions—like Planned Parenthood—from participating in the Title X program.

"Title X is the country's only initiative dedicated to affordable birth control and reproductive health care. More than four million people – including nearly 45,000 in Connecticut – rely on Title X each year," wrote the Members. "Despite the success of the Title X program, your administration is trying to completely remake the program so that it no longer focuses on birth control or reproductive health care. Instead, your administration would push our constituents toward abstinence-only programs and block patients from coming to Planned Parenthood. This is illegal, and could have devastating consequences and threaten health care for millions."

"In Connecticut, our health centers serve more than 80 percent of people who rely on Title X for birth control, cancer screenings, and other preventive care. Without Planned Parenthood of Southern New England, our state's only Title X grantee, many of our constituents would have nowhere else to go for care," continued the Members. "Everyone deserves the right to control their own bodies and future, and to get the care they want and need."

"The Trump-Pence administration wants to implement a domestic gag rule – an outrageous and dangerous policy that would threaten health care for millions of people. This has never been in place before in this country and would be a radical departure from the way health care has operated in the United States up until now," said Susan Yolen, Vice President of Public Policy and Advocacy with Planned Parenthood of Southern New England. "It would prevent millions of people from getting birth control and preventive care at Planned Parenthood health centers, and at the same time would force health care providers to lie to their patients by forbidding them from providing accurate and complete information."

A copy of the signed letter can be found here.

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