Evergreen Reporter

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, joined Senators Tina Smith (D-MN) and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) in reintroducing legislation on Friday that would protect access to critical reproductive health care services—like birth control, cancer screenings, and more—by providing a consistent and strong source of funding for the Title X Family Planning Program. Companion legislation was also introduced in the House of Representatives by U.S. Representative Sharice Davids (D, KS-03).

The Title X Family Planning Program is the only federal program dedicated to providing comprehensive family planning and preventive health services, and hundreds of thousands of Americans rely on the program for essential health care. In 2021, more than 1.6 million patients received family planning services through Title X. The Expanding Access to Family Planning Act would provide $562 million in mandatory funding for Title X services for each of the next 10 fiscal years.

“In overturning Roe v. Wade, Republicans have created a full-fledged health care crisis—and inadvertently put a spotlight on the challenges women face to accessing basic reproductive health care services. The Title X Family Planning Program helps close that gap, providing critical services to low-income women and families, from birth control to cancer screenings,” said Senator Murray. “We should be doing everything we can to strengthen this program and make sure it has the reliable funding necessary to continue its important work—and that’s exactly what this bill does.”

“At a time when Americans’ reproductive freedoms are under attack from extremist Republicans, the Title X Family Planning Program is more important than ever,” said Senator Smith. “Title X funding provides American women with access to critical reproductive health services. I invite all my Republican colleagues who claim to champion family planning services to join us in supporting this commonsense legislation that will protect women’s access to birth control, pregnancy counseling, basic infertility services, and more.”

“NFPRHA urges the Senate to pass the Expanding Access to Family Planning Act, key legislation that would secure strong, consistent funding for Title X, a critical part of the public health safety net that is desperate for more support,” said Clare Coleman, President & CEO, National Family Planning & Reproductive Health Association (NFPRHA). “At a time when reproductive health is under increased attack and in addition to efforts to restore abortion access, Congress has a responsibility to expand access to family planning and sexual health care, such as birth control, cancer screenings, and STI services made possible by Title X. We are grateful for Sen. Smith and Rep. Davids for their support of this important legislation and urge Congress to use any legislative vehicle to provide this needed support for the Title X family planning program as soon as possible.”

The Expanding Access to Family Planning Act would:

• Provide $512 million in mandatory funding for Title X services for each of the next 10 fiscal years—well above the $286.5 million the program received in Fiscal Year 2023.
• Deliver $50 million in mandatory funding for clinic construction, renovation, and related infrastructure enhancements for each of the next 10 fiscal years.
• Reinstate regulations prohibiting discrimination of providers who deliver Title X services.
• Require that pregnancy counseling include information about prenatal care and delivery, infant care, foster care, adoption, and pregnancy termination, unless a patient does not have any interest in receiving information about an option.

The bill is endorsed by the National Family Planning & Reproductive Health Association, NARAL Pro-Choice, National Council of Jewish Women, Physicians for Reproductive Health, Guttmacher Institute, Upstream USA, National Coalition of STD Directors, Planned Parenthood Federation of America, National Women’s Law Center, Advocates for Youth, and Power to Decide.  

The legislation introduced by Senators Smith, Murray, and Warren, is cosponsored by Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Michael Bennet (D-CO), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), John Fetterman (D-PA), Chris Murphy (D-CT), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), John Hickenlooper (D-CO), Jack Reed (D-RI), Brian Schatz (D-HI), Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ), Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Mark Warner (D-VA), Raphael Warnock (D-GA), Peter Welch (D- VT), and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI).

Original source can be found here.