FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 17, 2015
Contact: Ponta Abadi, pabadi@nfprha.org, 202-293-3114 ext. 219

Ranking Members Lowey and DeLauro Stand Up for Title X

Statement from Clare Coleman, President & CEO of the National Family Planning & Reproductive Health Association (NFPRHA)

WASHINGTON, DC – “NFPRHA applauds Representatives Nita Lowey (D-NY) and Rosa DeLauro (D-CT)  for offering amendments to the FY 2016 Labor-HHS appropriations package to restore critical funding to the Title X family planning program. If either amendment was adopted, Title X, which has been woefully underfunded in recent history, would receive $300 million, a much-needed infusion of resources aligned with the President’s FY 2016 budget request instead of its proposed elimination in the Chairman’s mark. Both Representative DeLauro’s amendment, which would have restored funding for a host of programs within the Labor-HHS bill, and Representative Lowey’s amendment, which was an amendment specifically to restore funding for Title X, failed by voice vote. 

“Over the past five years, Title X has sustained significant cuts as a result of tremendous pressure to reduce the federal deficit. On top of those cuts, Title X has also been the subject of politically motivated attacks on the federal and state levels, including some of the most severe funding cuts the program has experienced in its over 40-year history. The erosion of resources has crippled the safety net and jeopardized access to care for nearly 4.6 million low-income, under-insured, and uninsured individuals who rely on Title-X funded health centers as their primary source of health care. 

“The American public has already unequivocally expressed its support for family planning resources. Earlier this month, NFPRHA released national public opinion polling findings that women are three times more likely to support a member of Congress who wanted an increase in federal funding for family planning than a member of Congress who wanted to cut funding. 

“It would be a disservice to women and the safety-net providers that help ensure their access to high-quality family planning and sexual health services if this amendment is not included in the final package.”  

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NFPRHA represents the broad spectrum of family planning administrators and clinicians serving the nation's low-income and uninsured. NFPRHA’s more than 840 member organizations operate or fund a network of nearly 5,000 health centers and service sites that provide comprehensive family planning services to millions of low-income and uninsured or underinsured individuals in 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and Guam.