Senators Hassan, Warren and Representatives Chu, DeGette, and Lee Call for Restoring Full Family Planning Funding by Rescinding Former Administration’s Title X Policies
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Representative Judy Chu (D-CA), Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Representative Diana DeGette (D-CO), and Representative Barbara Lee (D-CA) led more than 150 of their colleagues in urging the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to rescind the former administration’s Title X policies that severely curtailed access to vital family planning and sexual health services.
As directed by President Biden at the beginning of his presidency, HHS is undergoing a review of the Title X rules issued under the Trump administration. “We believe that this review will make clear that the changes made to the Title X program resulted in numerous harms to patients and community health, and that the COVID-19 pandemic necessitates immediate rescission of the current rule,” wrote the Members of Congress.
They discussed the harm that the current rules have caused. “Title X is the nation’s only dedicated source of federal funding for family planning services, and it is essential we restore the capacity of this vital program… Unfortunately, the predictions of curtailed access to critical family planning and sexual health services have proven correct: more than 1,000 health centers withdrew from the program following the rule’s implementation; 844,083 fewer patients received Title X-funded services in 2019 than did in 2018; six states have no Title X-funded health centers; and providers and community members across the country have struggled to maintain access to care under the onerous terms of the rule.”
The Members of Congress continued, “Rebuilding the Title X program, which cannot begin until the rule is rescinded, is one of the most important ways that the Biden administration can support access to family planning and other essential health care services during this challenging time for our country.”
Read the Senators and Representatives’ full letter here or below, including a full list of signatories.
Dear Secretary Cochran:
We write to encourage you to swiftly complete your review of the current regulations (42 CFR Part 59) for the Title X family planning program, as directed by President Biden in his January 28, 2021 Presidential Memorandum on Protecting Women’s Health at Home and Abroad. As you know, the memorandum directs HHS to “consider, as soon as practicable, whether to suspend, revise, or rescind, or publish for notice and comment proposed rules suspending, revising, or rescinding, those regulations, consistent with applicable law, including the Administrative Procedure Act.”[1] We believe that this review will make clear that the changes made to the Title X program resulted in numerous harms to patients and community health, and that the COVID-19 pandemic necessitates immediate rescission of the current rule. We urge you to complete the rescission no later than March 29, 60 days after the president issued the presidential memorandum.
Title X is the nation’s only dedicated source of federal funding for family planning services, and it is essential we restore the capacity of this vital program. The Trump administration pushed forward the 2019 rule over the objections of many major medical and public health organizations, 218 members of Congress, and tens of thousands of members of the public.[2] Experts in medicine, law, public health, and reproductive health, rights, and justice argued that the rule was both unlawful and one of the greatest threats to access to family planning in the United States in a generation. Unfortunately, the predictions of curtailed access to critical family planning and sexual health services have proven correct: more than 1,000 health centers withdrew from the program following the rule’s implementation; 844,083 fewer patients received Title X-funded services in 2019 than did in 2018;[3] six states have no Title X-funded health centers; and providers and community members across the country have struggled to maintain access to care under the onerous terms of the rule. Every day that the rule remains in effect is another day that access to family planning services for people with low or no incomes is under threat.
The rule’s rescission is particularly urgent in light of the challenges that the COVID-19 pandemic has placed on the public health safety net, of which Title X providers are a key part. The Title X program disproportionately serves communities of color and people with low incomes,[4] and failure to act will only serve to compound the devastating impact the pandemic is having on these communities. In addition, a 2020 study found that the pandemic has led many women to want to delay or prevent pregnancy even as it has made it more difficult for people to access family planning and sexual health care, including contraception. Both of these findings were strongest for women of color and women with low incomes.[5] Rebuilding the Title X program, which cannot begin until the rule is rescinded, is one of the most important ways that the Biden administration can support access to family planning and other essential health care services during this challenging time for our country.
Finally, we know that President Biden stands firmly behind efforts to rescind the rule. During the presidential campaign, he pledged to undo the Trump administration’s rule,[6] and he prioritized this issue as one to address during his first ten days in office.
We urge you to work with all possible speed to complete your review of the program and move to quickly rescind the rule and reinstate the previous regulations that governed the program. We look forward to remaining updated on your progress in the weeks to come.
Sincerely,
Senator Margaret Wood Hassan
Representative Judy Chu
Senator Elizabeth Warren
Representative Diana DeGette
Representative Barbara Lee
Representative Alma Adams
Representative Colin Allred
Representative Jake Auchincloss
Representative Cindy Axne
Representative Nanette Diaz Barragán
Representative Ami Bera, M.D.
Representative Donald S. Beyer Jr.
Representative Earl Blumenauer
Representative Lisa Blunt Rochester
Representative Suzanne Bonamici
Representative Jamaal Bowman, Ed. D.
Representative Brendan F. Boyle
Representative Julia Brownley
Representative Salud Carbajal
Representative Tony Cárdenas
Representative Andre' Carson
Representative Matt Cartwright
Representative Sean Casten
Representative Kathy Castor
Representative Joaquin Castro
Representative David N. Cicilline
Representative Katherine Clark
Representative Yvette D. Clarke
Representative Gerald E. Connolly
Representative Jim Cooper
Representative Jason Crow
Representative Danny K. Davis
Representative Madeleine Dean
Representative Peter A. DeFazio
Representative Suzan DelBene
Representative Theodore E. Deutch
Representative Lloyd Doggett
Representative Mike Doyle
Representative Adriano Espaillat
Representative Dwight Evans
Representative Lizzie Fletcher
Representative Bill Foster
Representative Lois Frankel
Representative Ruben Gallego
Representative Sylvia R. Garcia
Representative Jesús G. "Chuy" García
Representative Alcee L. Hastings
Representative Jahana Hayes
Representative Brian Higgins
Representative Jim Himes
Representative Chrissy Houlahan
Representative Jared Huffman
Representative Sheila Jackson Lee
Representative Pramila Jayapal
Representative Eddie Bernice Johnson
Representative Henry C. "Hank" Johnson, Jr.
Representative Mondaire Jones
Representative Kaiali?i Kahele
Representative Ro Khanna
Representative Daniel T. Kildee
Representative Derek Kilmer
Representative Ann Kirkpatrick
Representative Raja Krishnamoorthi
Representative Ann McLane Kuster
Representative Brenda L. Lawrence
Representative Al Lawson
Representative Andy Levin
Representative Mike Levin
Representative Ted W. Lieu
Representative Alan Lowenthal
Representative Carolyn B. Maloney
Representative Kathy Manning
Representative Betty McCollum
Representative James P. McGovern
Representative Jerry McNerney
Representative Grace Meng
Representative Gwen Moore
Representative Jerrold Nadler
Representative Grace F. Napolitano
Representative Marie Newman
Representative Eleanor Holmes Norton
Representative Tom O'Halleran
Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
Representative Ilhan Omar
Representative Chris Pappas
Representative Bill Pascrell, Jr.
Representative Ed Perlmutter
Representative Chellie Pingree
Representative Stacey E. Plaskett
Representative Mark Pocan
Representative Katie Porter
Representative Ayanna Pressley
Representative David E. Price
Representative Jamie Raskin
Representative Kathleen M. Rice
Representative Deborah Ross
Representative Bobby L. Rush
Representative Linda T. Sánchez
Representative John P. Sarbanes
Representative Mary Gay Scanlon
Representative Jan Schakowsky
Representative Kim Schrier, M.D.
Representative Brad Sherman
Representative Albio Sires
Representative Adam Smith
Representative Jackie Speier
Representative Marilyn Strickland
Representative Thomas R Suozzi
Representative Mark Takano
Representative Dina Titus
Representative Norma J. Torres
Representative Marc A. Veasey
Representative Nydia M. Velázquez
Representative Bonnie Watson Coleman
Representative Peter Welch
Representative Jennifer Wexton
Representative Susan Wild
Representative John Yarmuth
Senator Tammy Baldwin
Senator Michael F. Bennet
Senator Richard Blumenthal
Senator Cory A. Booker
Senator Sherrod Brown
Senator Benjamin L. Cardin
Senator Robert P. Casey, Jr.
Senator Catherine Cortez Masto
Senator Tammy Duckworth
Senator Richard J. Durbin
Senator Kirsten Gillibrand
Senator Mazie K. Hirono
Senator Angus S. King, Jr.
Senator Patrick Leahy
Senator Edward J. Markey
Senator Robert Menendez
Senator Jeffrey A. Merkley
Senator Christopher S. Murphy
Senator Jon Tester
Senator Alex Padilla
Senator Jacky Rosen
Senator Bernard Sanders
Senator Jeanne Shaheen
Senator Tina Smith
Senator Debbie Stabenow
Senator Chris Van Hollen
Senator Ron Wyden
Senator Raphael Warnock
Senator Tim Kaine
Senator Jack Reed
Representative Nikema Williams
Senator Ben Ray Luján
Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz
Representative Darren Soto
Representative Scott Peters
Representative Bradley S. Schneider
Senator Sheldon Whitehouse
Senator Gary C. Peters
Senator Dianne Feinstein
Representative Brad Schneider
Senator Amy Klobuchar
Representative Rosa L. DeLauro
Representative Cori Bush
Representative Carolyn Bourdeaux
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