FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – July 17, 2018
Contact: Audrey Sandusky, 202-344-5805, asandusky@nfprha.org
Court’s Ruling Harmful to Nation’s Public Health
WASHINGTON, DC – Last night, a federal district court judge ruled against the National Family Planning & Reproductive Health Association (NFPRHA) and three Planned Parenthood affiliates in their lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s efforts to undermine the federal family planning program, which provides contraception and related preventive health care to four million low-income people every year.
NFPRHA (represented by the American Civil Liberties Union) and the three Planned Parenthood affiliates (Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin, Planned Parenthood of Greater Ohio, and Planned Parenthood Association of Utah), filed suit in May against the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to stop the agency from changing the criteria for awarding grants to provide family planning in a manner that would undermine patients’ access to contraception and instead require organizations to push the administration’s ideological vision of how people should live.
The suit seeks to stop HHS from using the funding announcement to award grants and to ensure grant funding continues so that Title X services would still be available until a lawful FOA could be issued and grants awarded.
“This administration is attempting to undermine a public health program that was created with bipartisan support and that for decades has provided critical family planning services to millions of people who could not otherwise afford it,” said Clare Coleman, President & CEO, NFPRHA. “We will continue to fight against attacks on family planning to ensure highly qualified health care providers can remain in the program and continue to deliver patient-centered contraceptive care for all who seek it.”
NFPRHA filed the lawsuit on behalf of its membership, which makes up more than 75% of Title X providers in the country.
Statement from Ruth Harlow, Senior Staff Attorney, ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project: “We will keep fighting to stop the Trump Administration’s attempts to undermine our nation's family planning program. This suit reflects just one of several attacks on Title X’s vital services. Whatever this Administration may think, it is not above the law, and we will continue our work to show that. The Administration cannot put its ideologically-driven agenda above women’s health and disrupt this essential, highly successful program, enacted by a bipartisan Congress almost 50 years ago.”
This decision comes against a backdrop of other dangerous policy proposals targeting the family planning safety net. On June 1, the administration published new and sweeping proposed Title X rules that would end required counseling for all women when pregnant, require clinicians to provide patients with misleading information, and further attempt to disrupt the network of specialized health centers that the Title X program has relied on for decades.
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NFPRHA is a membership organization representing providers and administrators committed to helping people get the family planning education and care they need to make the best choices for themselves and their loved ones. Through training and advocacy initiatives, NFPRHA works to enhance the ability of thousands of nurse practitioners, doctors, and other health professionals to provide high-quality family planning care. For more information, visit nationalfamilyplanning.org.