Pallone Blasts Trump Administration’s Efforts to Undermine Family Planning and Contraceptive Services Under Title X

Energy and Commerce Ranking Member Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ) released his comment letter to Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Alex Azar expressing grave concern in response to the Trump Administration's proposed changes to the Title X Family Planning Program, which if adopted would severely limit women's access to health care and undermine Congress' intent for the program.

"The proposed rule seeks to overhaul the network of providers participating in Title X and would restrict access to the critical health care services that are currently provided through Title X-funded projects," Pallone wrote. "The proposed rule raises a number of questions regarding its compliance with the Title X statute, and if implemented, would undermine Congress' true intent for the program."

In his letter, Pallone outlines a series of concerns with the Trump Administration's proposed rule including:

• Appearing to allow Title X applicants to refuse to offer a broad range of contraceptive care, including FDA-approved birth control methods, in favor of non-medically approved methods such as natural family planning and abstinence-only education;
• Expanding eligibility to women whose employers can now refuse to provide contraceptive coverage for religious or moral reasons due to the Trump Administration's own rulemaking. Expanding eligibility to individuals who should be able to receive contraceptive coverage through their employers was not the purpose of the Title X program and would stretch the program's already limited financial resources, while also shifting costs onto the federal government;
• Arbitrarily imposing strict physical separation requirements for Title X-funded entities from any facility that separately and legally offers abortion services creates both an undue financial burden on Title X providers and violates the Title X statue and congressional intent;
• Eliminating Title X regulations that require Title X projects to offer abortion referral and counseling services stands in stark contrast to longstanding congressional intent and runs afoul of current appropriation's law. This provision restricts Title X providers' ability to give their best care, and as a result, patients will lack accurate, complete, and specific information about their options;
• Providing HHS with broad and unprecedented discretion to disqualify Title X applicants while encouraging so-called "diverse applicants" appears to be a covert tool that could be used to deem longstanding Title X providers ineligible for funding despite years of expertise and service to their communities.

Pallone continued, "In summary, this proposed rule weakens the critical safety net that the Title X program provides to millions of women, men, and adolescents each year and stands in stark contrast to the goals of the program as Congress intended.

The Title X program was established by Congress in 1970 with broad bipartisan support and is the only domestic federal program dedicated solely to family planning and preventive health services. For nearly 50 years Title X grants have enabled low-income individuals to receive critical health services such as contraceptive care, sexually transmitted infection (STI) testing and treatment, cervical and breast cancer screenings, and pregnancy testing and counseling. In 2016, Title X-funded clinics served 4 million patients, the large majority of which had incomes at or below the federal poverty guidelines.

Letter available HERE.

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