Essential Access Health v. Azar | Essential Access Health

Our Fight to #SaveTitleX

As the leader of the largest and most diverse Title X system in the country, Essential Access Health filed a lawsuit in federal court in 2019 to block the Trump administration’s Title X regulations from taking effect.

What’s the Latest News?

Essential Access Health filed a cert petition to the United States Supreme Court, requesting review of challenges filed to halt implementation of the Trump administration’s Title X regulations that received split decisions in the lower courts. The American Medical Association, Planned Parenthood Federation of America, National Family Planning & Reproductive Health Association and the ACLU also joined the petition. If four of the nine Justices agree to hear the challenge, they will issue a writ of certiorari. This is a legal order from the high court for the lower courts to send the records of the case to them for review. The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit recently upheld a district court ruling released in February, blocking implementation of the Trump administration's Title X regulations in the state of Maryland. The appellate court affirmed the lower court's judgement that the new Title X rules violate the Administrative Procedures Act, but declined to vacate the Title X regulations nationwide. Earlier this year, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals denied Essential Access Health’s request to reconsider a panel decision that upheld the regulations in their entirety. Essential Access is committed to ensuring that Title X patients across the country can receive the comprehensive family planning services they want, when they need them. Learn more from our press release.

The Fight to #SaveTitleX - A Timeline
About the Trump Administration’s Title X Regulations
About Title X in California
Resources + Information
For the Media

The Fight to #SaveTitleX – A Timeline

May 22, 2018 – The United States Department of Health and Human Services released proposed Title X regulations that introduced some of the most sweeping and extreme changes in the history of the program
July 30, 2018 – Essential Access Health submitted public comments outlining the harms the proposed regulations would cause in California and across the country
February 22, 2019 – Final Title X regulations released on the Office of Population Affairs website
March 4, 2019 – Final regulations officially published in the Federal Register; Essential Access Health v. Azar, et al filed in federal court
March 21, 2019 – Essential Access Health filed preliminary injunction motion
April 18, 2019 – Oral arguments presented in preliminary injunction hearing
April 26, 2019 – Preliminary injunction granted
May 3, 2019 – Date regulations were scheduled to take effect
June 20, 2019 – Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals motions panel lifts preliminary injunction
July 3, 2019 – The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit granted emergency motion for re-hearing
July 11, 2019 – En banc panel of Ninth Circuit judges denied the request to restore the preliminary injunction that had been set aside by the motions panel’s stay while the rehearing process moved forward
July 26, 2019 – Planned Parenthood Federation of America, joined by litigation partners including the American Medical Association and National Family Planning & Reproductive Health Association, file a petition requesting full 9th Circuit reconsideration of the en banc panel’s July 11 order
September, 23, 2019 – En banc panel of 9th Circuit judges heard oral arguments on the request for reconsideration of the June 20 motion’s panel’s decision lifting the preliminary injunction
February 20, 2020 – Hearing in Federal District Court on Essential Access Health’s motion for summary judgment
February 24, 2020 – 9th Circuit Court of Appeals decision issued
April 9, 2020 – Essential Access Health joined a petition to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals to request full court reconsideration of the en banc panel decision released in February
May 8, 2020 – The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit denied Essential Access Health’s request for the full court to reconsider the panel decision released in February that upheld the Trump administration’s Title X regulations in their entirety.
September 3, 2020 – The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit upheld a district court ruling striking down the Title X regulations in Maryland, but declined to block implementation nationwide
October 1, 2020 – Essential Access Health and a coalition of litigation partners filed a cert petition to the United States Supreme Court, urging the Court to review split decisions handed down by the lower courts

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About the Trump Administration’s Title X Regulations

On March 4, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services published new regulations for the federal Title X program in the Federal Register. The regulations prohibit health providers from offering Title X patients complete and unbiased information about all of their pregnancy options, including referrals for abortion services, even if a patient asks for the information. Learn more in the links below.

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About Title X in California

The Title X federal family planning program was established by Congress in 1970 with bi-partisan support. In California, Title X funding supports the delivery of quality sexual and reproductive services such as birth control, breast and cervical cancer screenings, STD testing and treatment and other preventive services. Title X has played a significant role in reducing unintended pregnancies to their lowest levels in 30 years.

Essential Access Health leads the largest and most comprehensive Title X system in the country and has served as the lead Title X grantee in the state of California for 50 years. Our statewide Title X network includes comprehensive family planning service providers, STD prevention partners, and faith and community based outreach and education partners that collectively served over 600,000 low-income Californians in 23 counties in 2019. Learn more about Title X in California.

For further context, you can download a comparison map of Title X-funded family planning providers before and after the new regulations took effect.

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Resources + Information

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For the Media

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