Recently, the Department of Health and Human Services issued new funding criteria that undermines access to family planning services by making it harder to access FDA-approved contraceptive methods.
In response to the announcement, Physicians for Reproductive Health Fellow Dr. Jennifer Conti issued the following statement:
“This quiet but direct attack on Title X funding is the latest in a string of efforts by the Trump administration to block patients’ access to birth control and other essential preventive care. As a physician, I am concerned about the dire consequences this decision will undeniably have for the health of patients across the country.
“Title X family planning funding currently helps more than 4 million people, including people with low incomes or who don’t have insurance, get the care they need. Its positive results for Americans’ health and well-being are undeniable.
“This change to Title X funding criteria dramatically shifts the program, and it punishes quality, expert health care providers. Most importantly, patients will suffer, particularly those who already face barriers to accessing care. For many young people, people of color, people with low to moderate incomes, and people who live in rural areas, losing access to their reproductive health care providers means that they will likely not get care at all. Taking away this vital source of health care services is a mean-spirited political stunt that will only serve to harm those who are already struggling to get by.”