FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: February 14, 2020
Contact: Audrey Sandusky, (202) 344-5805, asandusky@nfprha.org

NFPRHA Applauds Win in Maryland Title X Court Case

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, Judge Richard Bennett of the US District Court for the District of Maryland ruled in favor of two claims in the Mayor and City Council of Baltimore’s legal challenge to the US Department of Health and Human Services’ Title X family planning rule. The following is a statement from Clare Coleman, President & CEO of the National Family Planning & Reproductive Health Association (NFPRHA).

“We are grateful for Judge Bennett’s decision to permanently block in Maryland the Title X family planning rule that HHS adopted and harmfully implemented in 2019.

“Title X was created to support patient access to high-quality, confidential family planning care and information. But the Trump administration’s actions have left millions of patients across the country without access to the Title X-funded health care they need. Family planning providers in more than 30 states have left the program, and in total, the number of health centers has decreased by nearly 1,000.

“Today was an important step toward justice, and we are heartened as we continue our separate, concurrent legal battle in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Washington to restore the integrity of our nation’s family planning program and to vacate the rule in its entirety across the country. Everyone, regardless of how much money they make or where they live, deserves access to high-quality, confidential family planning care. Our fight to save Title X is fundamentally about saving lives and keeping communities strong.”

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NFPRHA is a membership organization representing publicly funded family planning providers and administrators nationwide. NFPRHA advances and elevates the importance of family planning in the nation’s health care system and promotes and supports the work of family planning providers and administrators, especially those in the safety net. For more information, visit nationalfamilyplanning.org.