Today, our communities are being stripped of a total of $35 million dollars from the Trump Administration as they attack the Title X, a program that serves as a critical access point for basic preventive health care. Patients and clinics in 20 states will be impacted. Dr. Jamila Perritt, President & CEO of Physicians for Reproductive Health and ob/gyn in Washington DC responds:
“There is no doubt that our health and wellbeing is in peril under this Administration. On the same day that the Trump Administration essentially dismantled the Centers for Disease Control by laying off thousands of health care providers, researchers, and advocates, we are watching critical safety net health care clinics being denied the funding they need to operate and offer communities access to basic health care including birth control, STI testing and treatment, and cancer screenings.
“The health care that Title X clinics provide, including the clinic that I have been providing care at in my community for more than 15 years, is nothing short from lifesaving. Hundreds of clinics across the country, vital access points for many patients navigating the health care they need as barrier increase and resources are diminished, will be forced to shutter their doors. This is a direct and targeted attack on people with low incomes and people who are underinsured and uninsured.
Their desire to control who gets pregnant, who stays pregnant, who has the privilege of surviving their pregnancies, and who receives access to resources to raise families is violent and dangerous.
“When will it end? Make no mistake, this Administration’s attacks were never going to end with attacking people who need abortions, people who need gender-affirming care, or health care providers. The Trump Administration intends to eliminate systems and resources that impact all of us, especially those with the fewest resources. Their desire to control who gets pregnant, who stays pregnant, who has the privilege of surviving their pregnancies, and who receives access to resources to raise families is violent and dangerous.
“As a physician, I am extremely concerned for the impact this will have on patients’ ability to access the care they need to practice basic bodily autonomy. We will continue to do everything we can to show up for patients and provide them with the basic human dignity and care they deserve.”