Power to Decide Condemns New HHS Policy to Block Access to Title X for Immigrant Families

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) - On July 10, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued a notice announcing a new policy that expands the list of what qualifies as a “federal health benefit” and defines who is eligible. For the first time, access to the Title X Family Planning Program, along with a host of federal health programs, will be restricted based on immigration status as this administration continues to target immigrant communities and bar them from getting the health care they need. For more than fifty years, Title X has funded clinics to provide basic preventive reproductive health care–including birth control, cancer screenings, wellness exams and STI testing and treatment–to millions of people across the country who struggle to make ends meet, regardless of who they are and what their immigration status might be.

In response, Power to Decide CEO and practicing OB-GYN, Dr. Raegan McDonald-Mosley, issued the following statement:

“At a time when millions of people are struggling to access the health care they need, this administration continues to try to implement policies that push access to health care even further out of reach. As an OB-GYN and provider who has worked in Title X clinics throughout my career, I have seen firsthand how this program helps my patients get the family planning services they need and deserve. Without the Title X Program, many would not otherwise have access to this essential care. The Trump-Vance administration’s continued attempts to deny people access to sexual and reproductive health care, and health care overall, based on their immigration status is cruel. It’s creating a manufactured crisis that will result in even more emergencies in the short term and in irreversible harm for years to come. Everyone, no matter who they are, where they live or how much money they make, deserves access to the information and health care they need.

“Contraception, STI testing and treatment and cancer screenings are essential, life saving care for the millions of people who rely on Title X services each year. To weaponize the ability to access care based on one’s immigration status is unconscionable.

“As we await additional information on how programs will implement this new policy, Power to Decide remains committed to helping people learn about and access the contraception they need, and we urge this administration to stop its attacks on access to reproductive health care.”

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Power to Decide is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that works to advance sexual and reproductive well-being for all by providing trusted information, expanding access to quality services, and catalyzing culture change.