“Defunding” Planned Parenthood, Title X, and You

By Kiley Fisher | Aug. 20, 2019, 3:07 p.m.

Category: Birth Control

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Defund Defined

“Defunding” Planned Parenthood isn’t a thing. And it's really frustrating that we have to talk about it like it is. But the content behind this phrase is really, really important: anti-reproductive health politicians use it to score cheap political points when what they’re really doing is blocking patients from getting care from public health programs. 

“Defunding” Planned Parenthood really means blocking access to health care. Remember when the Trump-Pence administration tried to repeal the ACA? Yeah, if they succeeded, that would’ve kept people from accessing health care — including at Planned Parenthood. The current attack on Title X? Planned Parenthood and other providers, which in many cases are the only place that people can access for care, have been forced out of the nation’s program that has successfully been funding affordable birth control and other sexual and reproductive health care for nearly 50 years. And in their place, people might have: no options, or terrible options, like Obria —whose “health centers” don’t even provide contraception.

Title X Represents Access to Reproductive Health Care for Millions

Here’s the thing: it's hard to talk about this stuff. When people don’t have health care, people get sick. People go through hardships and trauma they shouldn’t have to deal with. People will delay accessing health care they need or just go without, which could cause health problems later on. When people don’t have health care, they struggle to take care of themselves and their families. And when it comes to “defunding” Planned Parenthood, this stuff with Title X?

It is as close as Donald Trump and Mike Pence have ever gotten to taking away reproductive health care. But it’s also the fiercest we (and our 13 million supporters) have ever been. These attacks on Planned Parenthood don’t exist in a vacuum. The people in this administration have spent years deliberately executing cruel, xenophobic, racist, classist, bigoted attacks. Attacks meant to hold down people, who are simply trying to access birth control that they can afford, and communities that have faced discrimination, systemic barriers, and so much more in so many parts of their lives. “They tried to bury us. They didn’t know that we were seeds.”

So here’s the deal with Title X: every day, including today, nearly 11,000 people go to health centers to get free or low-cost reproductive health care. They get cancer screenings, STI tests, birth control, sexual and reproductive health care education – all through the Title X program. It has been an important and successful federal program, and what we should be doing is looking to expand it. Instead, Donald Trump has enacted a “gag rule,”  violating medical ethics, and violating the law. This rule will force Planned Parenthood and any other provider —that refuse to pretend that abortion isn’t a normal part of health care — out of the program. The only recourse? Congress.

According to the Trump administration, there’s abortion, and then there’s “acceptable” care.

— New York Times Editorial Board

That’s where you come in.

At the end of September, Congress could vote on a bill with language that can stop the gag rule. The House and Senate have to agree. And we have enough champions to make sure this happens — but only if we keep the pressure on high for the next month. Can we count on you to help?

There isn’t really a silver lining to this one: the time to hold each other up and to push for the world we believe in, is now.

Just remember: Planned Parenthood stands with you.

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