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The U.S. Department of Health & Human Services has finalized sweeping changes to the federal Title X family planning program, pulling back funds from clinics that provide abortion counseling or that refer patients for abortion services, regardless of whether the money is used for other health care services.
Under the final rule, announced Feb. 22 by HHS, women’s health clinics are ineligible for Title X funding if they offer, promote, or support abortion as a method of family planning. Title X grants generally go to health centers that provide reproductive health care – such as STD-testing, cancer screenings, and contraception – to low-income families.
In a fact sheet, HHS stated the final rule will provide for clear financial and physical separation between Title X and non-Title X activities, reduce confusion on the part of Title X clinics and the public about permissible Title X activities, and improve program transparency by requiring more complete reporting by grantees about their partnerships with referral agencies.
“The final rule ensures compliance with statutory program integrity provisions governing the program and, in particular, the statutory prohibition on funding programs where abortion is a method of family planning,” department officials said in a statement. “The final rule amends the Title X regulation, which had not been substantially updated in nearly 2 decades, and makes notable improvements designed to increase the number of patients served and improve the quality of their care.”
Lisa Hollier, MD, president for the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) said the final rule threatens the ability of women’s health care providers to deliver medically accurate and comprehensive reproductive health care and poses significant harms to women’s health.
“As the only federal program exclusively dedicated to providing low-income patients with access to family planning and preventive health services and information, [Title X] plays a vital role in the landscape of women’s health care,” Dr. Hollier said during a Feb. 22 press conference. “By weakening the requirements for the scope of contraceptive care provided by grant recipients and restricting the types of care recipients can discuss with patients, the final rule fundamentally harms the scope and purpose of this historic program.”
The American Medical Association also expressed disappointment, referring to the final requirement as a “gag rule” between physicians and patients.
“This rule interferes with and imposes restrictions on the patient-physician relationship,” Barbara L. McAneny, MD, AMA President said in a statement. “For all intents and purposes, it imposes a gag rule on what information physicians can provide to their patients. The patient-physician relationship relies on trust, open conversation and informed decision making and the government should not be telling physicians what they can and cannot say to their patients.”
Under the rule, proposed last year, physicians are prohibited from discussing abortion options with pregnant women, from sharing abortion information, and from making abortion referrals if the clinic receives Title X funds. The regulation permits, but no longer requires, nondirective pregnancy counseling, including nondirective counseling on abortion. In its statement, HHS officials said the new rule ensures “conscience protections” for Title X health providers by eliminating the requirement for providers to counsel on and refer for abortion.
Susan B. Anthony List, an anti-abortion group, praised the final rule as a measure that disentangles taxpayers from the “big abortion industry led by Planned Parenthood.”
“The Protect Life Rule does not cut family planning funding by a single dime, and instead directs tax dollars to entities that provide health care to women but do not perform abortions,” said SBA List President Marjorie Dannenfelser in a statement. “The Title X program was not intended to be a slush fund for abortion businesses like Planned Parenthood, which violently ends the lives of more than 332,000 unborn babies a year and receives almost $60 million a year in Title X taxpayer dollars.”
Emily Stewart, vice president of public policy for the Planned Parenthood Federation of America indicated that the group plans to fight the rule in court.
“Since day one, the Trump-Pence administration has aggressively targeted the health, rights, and bodily autonomy of people of color, people with low incomes, and women,” she said in a statement. “We’re going to fight this rule through every possible avenue.”
The final rule has been submitted to the Federal Register for publication.
The U.S. Department of Health & Human Services has finalized sweeping changes to the federal Title X family planning program, pulling back funds from clinics that provide abortion counseling or that refer patients for abortion services, regardless of whether the money is used for other health care services.
Under the final rule, announced Feb. 22 by HHS, women’s health clinics are ineligible for Title X funding if they offer, promote, or support abortion as a method of family planning. Title X grants generally go to health centers that provide reproductive health care – such as STD-testing, cancer screenings, and contraception – to low-income families.
In a fact sheet, HHS stated the final rule will provide for clear financial and physical separation between Title X and non-Title X activities, reduce confusion on the part of Title X clinics and the public about permissible Title X activities, and improve program transparency by requiring more complete reporting by grantees about their partnerships with referral agencies.
“The final rule ensures compliance with statutory program integrity provisions governing the program and, in particular, the statutory prohibition on funding programs where abortion is a method of family planning,” department officials said in a statement. “The final rule amends the Title X regulation, which had not been substantially updated in nearly 2 decades, and makes notable improvements designed to increase the number of patients served and improve the quality of their care.”
Lisa Hollier, MD, president for the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) said the final rule threatens the ability of women’s health care providers to deliver medically accurate and comprehensive reproductive health care and poses significant harms to women’s health.
“As the only federal program exclusively dedicated to providing low-income patients with access to family planning and preventive health services and information, [Title X] plays a vital role in the landscape of women’s health care,” Dr. Hollier said during a Feb. 22 press conference. “By weakening the requirements for the scope of contraceptive care provided by grant recipients and restricting the types of care recipients can discuss with patients, the final rule fundamentally harms the scope and purpose of this historic program.”
The American Medical Association also expressed disappointment, referring to the final requirement as a “gag rule” between physicians and patients.
“This rule interferes with and imposes restrictions on the patient-physician relationship,” Barbara L. McAneny, MD, AMA President said in a statement. “For all intents and purposes, it imposes a gag rule on what information physicians can provide to their patients. The patient-physician relationship relies on trust, open conversation and informed decision making and the government should not be telling physicians what they can and cannot say to their patients.”
Under the rule, proposed last year, physicians are prohibited from discussing abortion options with pregnant women, from sharing abortion information, and from making abortion referrals if the clinic receives Title X funds. The regulation permits, but no longer requires, nondirective pregnancy counseling, including nondirective counseling on abortion. In its statement, HHS officials said the new rule ensures “conscience protections” for Title X health providers by eliminating the requirement for providers to counsel on and refer for abortion.
Susan B. Anthony List, an anti-abortion group, praised the final rule as a measure that disentangles taxpayers from the “big abortion industry led by Planned Parenthood.”
“The Protect Life Rule does not cut family planning funding by a single dime, and instead directs tax dollars to entities that provide health care to women but do not perform abortions,” said SBA List President Marjorie Dannenfelser in a statement. “The Title X program was not intended to be a slush fund for abortion businesses like Planned Parenthood, which violently ends the lives of more than 332,000 unborn babies a year and receives almost $60 million a year in Title X taxpayer dollars.”
Emily Stewart, vice president of public policy for the Planned Parenthood Federation of America indicated that the group plans to fight the rule in court.
“Since day one, the Trump-Pence administration has aggressively targeted the health, rights, and bodily autonomy of people of color, people with low incomes, and women,” she said in a statement. “We’re going to fight this rule through every possible avenue.”
The final rule has been submitted to the Federal Register for publication.
The U.S. Department of Health & Human Services has finalized sweeping changes to the federal Title X family planning program, pulling back funds from clinics that provide abortion counseling or that refer patients for abortion services, regardless of whether the money is used for other health care services.
Under the final rule, announced Feb. 22 by HHS, women’s health clinics are ineligible for Title X funding if they offer, promote, or support abortion as a method of family planning. Title X grants generally go to health centers that provide reproductive health care – such as STD-testing, cancer screenings, and contraception – to low-income families.
In a fact sheet, HHS stated the final rule will provide for clear financial and physical separation between Title X and non-Title X activities, reduce confusion on the part of Title X clinics and the public about permissible Title X activities, and improve program transparency by requiring more complete reporting by grantees about their partnerships with referral agencies.
“The final rule ensures compliance with statutory program integrity provisions governing the program and, in particular, the statutory prohibition on funding programs where abortion is a method of family planning,” department officials said in a statement. “The final rule amends the Title X regulation, which had not been substantially updated in nearly 2 decades, and makes notable improvements designed to increase the number of patients served and improve the quality of their care.”
Lisa Hollier, MD, president for the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) said the final rule threatens the ability of women’s health care providers to deliver medically accurate and comprehensive reproductive health care and poses significant harms to women’s health.
“As the only federal program exclusively dedicated to providing low-income patients with access to family planning and preventive health services and information, [Title X] plays a vital role in the landscape of women’s health care,” Dr. Hollier said during a Feb. 22 press conference. “By weakening the requirements for the scope of contraceptive care provided by grant recipients and restricting the types of care recipients can discuss with patients, the final rule fundamentally harms the scope and purpose of this historic program.”
The American Medical Association also expressed disappointment, referring to the final requirement as a “gag rule” between physicians and patients.
“This rule interferes with and imposes restrictions on the patient-physician relationship,” Barbara L. McAneny, MD, AMA President said in a statement. “For all intents and purposes, it imposes a gag rule on what information physicians can provide to their patients. The patient-physician relationship relies on trust, open conversation and informed decision making and the government should not be telling physicians what they can and cannot say to their patients.”
Under the rule, proposed last year, physicians are prohibited from discussing abortion options with pregnant women, from sharing abortion information, and from making abortion referrals if the clinic receives Title X funds. The regulation permits, but no longer requires, nondirective pregnancy counseling, including nondirective counseling on abortion. In its statement, HHS officials said the new rule ensures “conscience protections” for Title X health providers by eliminating the requirement for providers to counsel on and refer for abortion.
Susan B. Anthony List, an anti-abortion group, praised the final rule as a measure that disentangles taxpayers from the “big abortion industry led by Planned Parenthood.”
“The Protect Life Rule does not cut family planning funding by a single dime, and instead directs tax dollars to entities that provide health care to women but do not perform abortions,” said SBA List President Marjorie Dannenfelser in a statement. “The Title X program was not intended to be a slush fund for abortion businesses like Planned Parenthood, which violently ends the lives of more than 332,000 unborn babies a year and receives almost $60 million a year in Title X taxpayer dollars.”
Emily Stewart, vice president of public policy for the Planned Parenthood Federation of America indicated that the group plans to fight the rule in court.
“Since day one, the Trump-Pence administration has aggressively targeted the health, rights, and bodily autonomy of people of color, people with low incomes, and women,” she said in a statement. “We’re going to fight this rule through every possible avenue.”
The final rule has been submitted to the Federal Register for publication.