Dear John,
Earlier this week, Planned Parenthood was shut out of Title X funding by the Trump-Pence Gag Rule, which holds reproductive health clinics hostage by dictating what doctors can and cannot say to their patients regarding abortion.
The Trump-Pence Gag Rule is a terrifying step backwards for reproductive justice, human rights, and the American medical community. This rule will hurt patients and clinics across the country--disproportionately low-income patients, the uninsured and underinsured, young people, and communities of color will bear the brunt of this atrocity.
I am outraged because for nearly 50 years, Title X has provided vital reproductive healthcare to low-income women. This unprecedented attack has forced a nearly impossible choice for clinics.
Keeping Title X funding will result in the erosion of doctor-patient relationships by preventing doctors from properly counseling patients on their complete range of options: this is an absolute violation of a patient’s Constitutional right to abortion care. It will also bar clinics from counseling, referring, or providing abortion services. Currently the Hyde Amendment prevents any federal dollars from being used for abortion care. But this rule takes it a step further, saying that clinics who receive funding for Title X family planning services must immediately stop any counseling, referring of, or discussing options for abortion.
Many clinics--including Planned Parenthood--refuse to allow this administration to rollback abortion care through silencing tactics. However, being shut out of Title X funding will deny services to many of its’ 4 million patients, 60% of whom solely rely on these clinics for their contraceptive care. The loss of Title X funding will make it much more difficult for reproductive health clinics to provide vital services to those seeking medically accurate guidance about birth control, STI testing, and cancer screenings. And, in some cases, the loss of funding will force reproductive health clinics to shut their doors.
The stakes have never been more urgent. We must act now to protect comprehensive reproductive health care.
Take Action,
