The Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) released a proposed rule Tuesday that would ban Title X Family Planning Program providers, including Planned Parenthood, from either providing or referring patients for abortions. The policy (briefly in effect previously) is known as a “gag rule” because it bars caregivers at facilities receiving family planning funds from providing any information to patients about abortion services. This latest attack on Planned Parenthood would go far beyond restricting abortion access and would have a devastating impact on low-income women’s access to all health and reproductive health care services.
The proposed rule would be problematic because it would:
- Require family planning providers to establish physical distance between services funded by Title X and abortion services, counseling or referrals (currently only financial distance is required). The physical distance requirement could require family planning providers to move abortion care to another location or stop providing abortion care altogether.
- Bar family planning providers from referring patients elsewhere for abortion care if they receive Title X funding.
- Leave millions of patients without the care they need – birth control, cancer screenings, STD testing and other women’s health services.
Governor Inslee and other state leaders condemned this threat to health care access in a statement. Senators Murray and Cantwell joined over 200 of their colleagues in a letter to HHS Secretary Alex Azar in which they “strongly oppose efforts to undermine the integrity of the Title X program and harm the millions of people who rely on it for care.” The National Health Law Program (NHeLP) cautioned that these changes “will eliminate more than 40 percent of trusted providers from the program, creating reproductive health deserts across the country.” Speculation about the announcement marked a rude ending to last week’s National Women’s Health Week, when women were being encouraged to get their free well woman visits.
