FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 8, 2020

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

Ninth Circuit Denies Full-Court Review of Appeal in Challenge to Title X Program Rule

WASHINGTON, DC – Today the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals denied a request by the National Family Planning & Reproductive Health Association (NFPRHA), the Attorney General of Washington State, Bob Ferguson, and plaintiffs-appellees in the other Ninth Circuit Title X cases for a full-court rehearing 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. The following is a statement from Clare Coleman, President & CEO of NFPRHA:

“Today’s denial of a full-court re-hearing by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals is extremely disappointing. The unprecedented ruling in February by the smaller en banc panel undercut fundamental principles of fairness and allowed HHS to act without appropriate scrutiny. As a result, the nearly four million individuals who rely on Title X for high-quality family planning and sexual health care continue to wait for the reversal of fortune when quality and dignity will once again serve as the hallmarks of the 50-year old program.

“It’s ironic that, as the nation comes to a new understanding of the critical role that public health expertise plays in protecting the people of our country, whether confronting a pandemic or providing essential health care, public health professionals have not been given their day in court.

“Regardless, today’s decision is not the final chapter in the fight to Save Title X. Providers are working every day to deliver the essential care that their communities need, and NFPRHA and its partners will not stop our efforts to defend and protect the family planning safety net.”

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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.