Equity Forward Responds to Administration’s Plan to Implement “Gag Rule”
05.18.18 – Today, the Trump Administration is expected to announce plans to alter federal funding regulations that would bar Title X health care centers that provide abortions from seeing patients who need birth control and other reproductive health care services. The regulations would also prohibit any Title X facility from referring patients for abortions.
In response, Executive Director of Equity Forward, Mary Alice Carter released the following statement:
“Today’s rumored announcement disregards decades of bipartisan administration of the Title X program, which provides services to over four million people. The Trump Administration and HHS Secretary Alex Azar put their personal beliefs above science and the health and wellbeing of American families. Planned Parenthood and other health centers across the nation provide much-needed and common services like birth control, cancer screenings and STD treatment; by taking away patients’ ability to go to these known and trusted providers, Trump is hurting American families that need it most. This is not the America we deserve, and Equity Forward will continue to hold the government accountable and fight for people’s access to health care services.”
When Secretary Azar took office he committed to Congress that his agency would be transparent, yet the process around Title X has been shrouded in secrecy. The agency continues to announce sweeping changes to the Title X program such as a new “scoring” system for grant approval and the emphasis on “natural family planning” while providing zero transparency into the process. Earlier this month, Equity Forward filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia for records related to Title X that HHS had failed to produce under FOIA.
To learn more, read Equity Forward’s research about the questionable HHS policies and the people driving them.
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