Last month, the Trump-Pence administration announced the proposal of a rule change that jeopardizes health care for millions of Americans – including thousands of Granite Staters.
The administration proposed a domestic gag rule, which would ban Title X funding for any doctor, hospital or health center that performs abortion or even refers a patient for an abortion. The medical community, lawmakers and public health experts, including major medical associations such as the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the American Medical Association, oppose this rule.
Bottom line – this gag rule is politically motivated and has far-reaching negative consequences on public health.
Established in 1970, the Title X program has been the nation’s family planning program for more than four decades, helping low-income and underserved individuals access family planning and other basic health care services.
The program, which has enjoyed broad bipartisan support since it was championed by a Republican administration and President Nixon signed it into law, has proven to be incredibly effective – it has helped lower unintended pregnancies across the country and here in New Hampshire, where we have one of the lowest rates of unintended pregnancy in the country.
But now the Trump-Pence administration is putting politics before people and undermining this vital program as part of a larger agenda aimed at Planned Parenthood and other reproductive health providers.
To be clear, currently no Title X funds cover abortion care, as federal funding of abortion is prohibited. Title X dollars go to health care services such as STD testing and treatment, cancer screenings, and birth control to help women plan and space their pregnancies, which improves the health and lives of women and their families.
The fact is this rule does nothing to change the long-standing prohibition of using Title X funds for abortion. Instead, this rule will reverse decades of progress and health improvements for underserved populations by dramatically reducing their access to reproductive health care.
Planned Parenthood of Northern New England is an essential part of the health care landscape in New Hampshire, and more than 60 percent of Title X patients in the Granite State receive their care at one of the five Planned Parenthood health centers in the state. Over 11,000 New Hampshire patients receive high-quality, compassionate care at Planned Parenthood, often on a sliding fee scale or free of charge.
Federally Qualified Health Centers and Community Health Centers play an important role in serving low-income and underserved communities, but they are simply not equipped to take on the number of patients who receive care at Planned Parenthood should this rule go into effect. That means thousands of Granite Staters could be left without viable options to receive family planning and other basic health care services.
This proposed rule coming from the Trump-Pence administration is out of touch with New Hampshire values – a state that has a long bipartisan tradition of protecting the patient-doctor relationship, and which has a history of strong public health.
New Hampshire’s congressional delegation has stepped up to demand Trump rescind this policy, but they cannot do it alone.
We urge Granite Staters to add their voice to the groundswell of opposition to the proposal.
At Planned Parenthood, we will never stop fighting for our patients and their access to quality health care both in the Granite State and nationally, no matter what.
(Sabrina Dunlap is the vice president of public policy for Planned Parenthood of Northern New England and Planned Parenthood NH Action Fund.)