The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has allowed the Trump-Pence administration to implement the Title X gag rule, which prohibits health care providers from referring patients for abortion services. Planned Parenthood providers cannot comply with this unethical rule and so affiliates across the country, including here in Minnesota, are exiting the federal Title X program and so will no longer be receiving this crucial federal funding. Title X funds are used to provide people with low incomes with preventive care, like birth control and cancer screenings; these funds are never used for abortion care.

By enforcing this dangerous rule, the Trump-Pence administration will block millions of Americans from the affordable health care they seek at Planned Parenthood health centers. This includes 53,000 Minnesotans who rely on Title X funding for care at Planned Parenthood and associated clinics in all corners of the state. The gag rule will especially impact people in Greater Minnesota, where there are fewer providers and less access to basic care.

The Title X gag rule is an affront to medical ethics because it stops providers from giving patients full information about their health care options. We at Planned Parenthood will never withhold information from patients in exchange for funding. But to be clear: Planned Parenthood’s doors remain open and we are here for good, despite this egregious move from the Trump-Pence administration. We are proud to have served nearly one million Minnesotans through Title X since its inception nearly 50 years ago. It’s baffling that our President and Vice President are forcing Planned Parenthood out of this crucial public health program, a move that will lead to more unintended pregnancies, sexually transmitted diseases and cancer. We will do everything in our power to fight this rule for one simple reason: it is a direct attack on the health of our state and our country. Sarah Stoesz, President and CEO of Planned Parenthood North Central States

Title X (ten), passed by Congress in 1970, is the only federal grant program dedicated to funding comprehensive family planning services for Americans with low incomes. Title X funds serve people who can’t afford basic family planning services like birth control and clinical breast exams. For many people, these health centers are their only source of health care.

Title X provides a range of essential preventive health services including contraception, STD testing and treatment, HIV testing, and breast and cervical cancer screenings. Since the beginning of Title X, health centers that provide abortions, like Planned Parenthood, were able to get funding but were prohibited from using those funds to subsidize or pay for abortions. No Title X funds have every been used for abortion services. The Trump-Pence administration’s ‘gag rule’ bans doctors in the Title X program across the country from telling patients how they can safely and legally access abortion. The gag rule prohibits doctors from giving patients full information about all of their sexual and reproductive health care options.

In Minnesota, Planned Parenthood will no longer be able to use Title X funds to care for patients at health centers in Alexandria, Apple Valley, Bemidji, Brooklyn Park, Duluth, Eden Prairie, Grand Rapids, Mankato, Minneapolis, Moorhead, St. Paul, Richfield, St. Cloud, Virginia, Willmar, and Woodbury. 53,000 patients received care in Minnesota because of Title X in 2018.

Following the loss of Title X funding, a sliding fee scale will be offered to patients based on income and Planned Parenthood will continue to help patients enroll in health coverage they may be eligible for.

The medical community, public health experts, and the general public are against this rule. In addition to the American Medical Association, the gag rule has been opposed by major medical associations, like the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the American College of Physicians, as well as 110 public health organizations, and public health experts such as former U.S. surgeon general Dr. Vivek H. Murthy, and many others. A group of 19 different medical organizations, mayors, state lawmakers, over 200 Members of Congress, newly elected Democratic governors, and several other governors have opposed this legislation as well.

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