115th Congress
Passed on March 30, 2017
Update: April 13, 2017
This is an update on Health Policy Brief 5 that reported that H.J. Res 43 was passed through Congress on March 30, 2017. On April 13, President Trump signed the bill into law, allowing states to discriminate against certain healthcare providers, such as Planned Parenthood.
Policy Summary
Congress voted to overturn a rule put in place by the Obama administration in December 2016 that prevented states from denying Title X Family Planning funding to health care providers who offer abortion services. Title X funds are intended to provide access to “family planning and related preventative health services for millions of low-income or uninsured individuals”. H.J. Res 43 passed with a tie-breaking vote cast by Vice President Pence, disapproving of the rule that stated states could not withhold Title X sub-grants from otherwise eligible family planning health care providers, solely because they offer abortions, in addition to other health services. LEARN MORE
Analysis
Title X funding helps more than four million clients, according to their 2015 annual report. The Planned Parenthood Action Fund warns that this “could embolden states to discriminate against family planning health care providers — both Planned Parenthood health centers and independent clinics”. According to the Guttmacher Institute, “72% of U.S. counties had at least one safety-net family planning center supported by Title X, and 94% of women in need of publicly funded family planning care lived in those counties” in 2010. Researchers estimate that healthcare provided by Title X-funded providers prevented 326,000 abortions in 2014 that would have been caused by a higher unintended pregnancy rate.
Engagement Resources
- Donate to Planned Parenthood – Planned Parenthood is asking for emergency contributions to help fight states who may try to defund the organization.
- Call your Senator – Call your U.S. Senator on behalf of Planned Parenthood and tell them not to defund Planned Parenthood.
- Become a fundraiser for Guttmacher Institute – create a page to share on social media to help raise funds to support Guttmacher Institute’s sexual and reproductive health policy work.
This brief was compiled by Elizabeth Kiefer. If you have comments or want to add the name of your organization to this brief please contact elizabeth@usresistnews.org.
