Delaware News

Delaware Joins National Suit Against Trump Administration’s Title X “Gag Rule”

Department of Justice | Department of Justice Press Releases | News | Date Posted: Monday, March 4, 2019



Rule change threatens funding for Delaware clinics serving thousands of patients

WILMINGTON – Attorney General Kathy Jennings announced Monday that Delaware will join 19 sister states and the District of Columbia in a national lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the Trump Administration’s new “gag rule” altering the federal Title X family planning program. The suit, which is being led by Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum, will be filed on Tuesday, March 5.

Title X is the only federal grant program that funds family planning programs to help patients access contraception, cancer screenings, exams, and related health services. The Trump Administration’s rule change restricts providers and health care professionals from providing information or referrals for abortion services.

“Access to basic family planning should never be secondary to a political agenda,” said Attorney General Jennings. “The Trump Administration’s efforts to undermine reproductive rights are cruel, ineffective, and harmful. Rather than preventing unwanted pregnancies or promoting effective alternatives to abortion, the Title X changes threaten millions of people’s access to family planning services, restrict doctors’ freedom to provide quality medical advice, and threaten to close down health care facilities that are often the only show in town for low-income or uninsured Americans.”

Title X funds 55 sites throughout Delaware, including federally qualified health centers, community clinics, state clinics, three Planned Parenthood affiliates, university health centers and 21 school-based health centers. In 2017, Delaware’s Title X providers served 19,132 patients – both men and women.

Title X does not fund abortions. All Title X providers in Delaware provide basic physical assessments and preventive/diagnostic health screenings that support clients’ preconception health. Services provided by Title X providers include STD screenings and treatment, rapid HIV testing and counseling, cervical and breast cancer screenings, mental health assessments, and family planning services including oral contraceptives, injectable medications, long-acting reversible contraceptives (LARCs), pregnancy testing, and nondirective options counseling.

Notably, Title X facilities and funding were instrumental in Delaware’s Contraceptive Access Now (CAN) initiative, which from 2014 to 2017 helped increase LARC use from 13.7 percent to 31.5 percent among Delaware Title X family planning clients ages 20 to 39. This resulted in a 24 percent simulated decrease in unintended pregnancies among this population according to Upstream USA, a partner nonprofit.

Joining Delaware and Oregon in the lawsuit are Colorado, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York,  North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia and Wisconsin.

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Delaware Joins National Suit Against Trump Administration’s Title X “Gag Rule”

Department of Justice | Department of Justice Press Releases | News | Date Posted: Monday, March 4, 2019



Rule change threatens funding for Delaware clinics serving thousands of patients

WILMINGTON – Attorney General Kathy Jennings announced Monday that Delaware will join 19 sister states and the District of Columbia in a national lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the Trump Administration’s new “gag rule” altering the federal Title X family planning program. The suit, which is being led by Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum, will be filed on Tuesday, March 5.

Title X is the only federal grant program that funds family planning programs to help patients access contraception, cancer screenings, exams, and related health services. The Trump Administration’s rule change restricts providers and health care professionals from providing information or referrals for abortion services.

“Access to basic family planning should never be secondary to a political agenda,” said Attorney General Jennings. “The Trump Administration’s efforts to undermine reproductive rights are cruel, ineffective, and harmful. Rather than preventing unwanted pregnancies or promoting effective alternatives to abortion, the Title X changes threaten millions of people’s access to family planning services, restrict doctors’ freedom to provide quality medical advice, and threaten to close down health care facilities that are often the only show in town for low-income or uninsured Americans.”

Title X funds 55 sites throughout Delaware, including federally qualified health centers, community clinics, state clinics, three Planned Parenthood affiliates, university health centers and 21 school-based health centers. In 2017, Delaware’s Title X providers served 19,132 patients – both men and women.

Title X does not fund abortions. All Title X providers in Delaware provide basic physical assessments and preventive/diagnostic health screenings that support clients’ preconception health. Services provided by Title X providers include STD screenings and treatment, rapid HIV testing and counseling, cervical and breast cancer screenings, mental health assessments, and family planning services including oral contraceptives, injectable medications, long-acting reversible contraceptives (LARCs), pregnancy testing, and nondirective options counseling.

Notably, Title X facilities and funding were instrumental in Delaware’s Contraceptive Access Now (CAN) initiative, which from 2014 to 2017 helped increase LARC use from 13.7 percent to 31.5 percent among Delaware Title X family planning clients ages 20 to 39. This resulted in a 24 percent simulated decrease in unintended pregnancies among this population according to Upstream USA, a partner nonprofit.

Joining Delaware and Oregon in the lawsuit are Colorado, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York,  North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia and Wisconsin.

image_printPrint


Graphic that represents delaware news on a mobile phone

Keep up to date by receiving a daily digest email, around noon, of current news release posts from state agencies on news.delaware.gov.

Here you can subscribe to future news updates.