FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 8, 2020

Contact: Kat Mavengere, kmavengere_consultant@nfprha.org, 202-641-6184

NFPRHA Requests a Full Court Review of Appeal in Challenge to Unlawful Title X Program Rule

WASHINGTON, DC – Today the National Family Planning & Reproductive Health Association (NFPRHA) and the Attorney General of Washington State, Bob Ferguson, requested a full court rehearing by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in their challenge to the Trump administration’s Title X family planning rule. An 11-member panel of that court in February rejected the final merits of the plaintiffs' arbitrary-rulemaking claims in the context of a preliminary injunction appeal, without the administrative record and full arguments from it. Plaintiffs-appellees in the other Ninth Circuit Title X cases have also joined in the full court rehearing request. The following is a statement from Clare Coleman, President & CEO of NFPRHA:

“Today we are calling for the full panel of judges in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to rehear a vital aspect of the Title X family planning case. The unprecedented ruling in February by the smaller en banc panel undercut fundamental principles of fairness to litigants and failed to ensure that the courts appropriately scrutinize the actions of HHS, a federal agency that is required to base its decisions on serving the public using reason.

“The February ruling short-circuited the normal judicial process, determining crucial claims without the agency's complete record and without plaintiffs having a chance to fully argue their position. More now than ever, we owe it to the 4 million poor and low-income patients who depend on Title X family planning for vital health care each year to keep up the fight.”

###

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.