CA State Senate Passes Resolution Opposing Trump Administration’s Harmful Changes to the Title X Family Planning Program

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 28, 2019
Contact: Amy Moy, amoy@essentialaccess.org, 415.518.4465

Today the California State Senate passed Senate Joint Resolution (SJR) 4 to call on the federal government to rescind harmful changes to the Title X federal family planning program that threaten to reduce access to quality sexual and reproductive health care for low-income patients across the state. The measure, introduced by Senator Connie M. Leyva (Chino), passed by a vote of 25-8, and now moves to the Assembly.

Created by Congress with bipartisan support and signed into law by President Richard Nixon in 1970, Title X serves as the federal government’s only dedicated source of family planning funding for low-income women, men and adolescents. On March 4th, the Trump administration published new Title X regulations in the Federal Register that undermine the program’s mandate to provide comprehensive family planning services for all and conflict with clinical best practices and medical ethics standards.

California is home to the largest and most comprehensive Title X system in the country, serving one in four Title X patients nationwide. Title X funding supports the delivery of high-quality family planning services like birth control, STD tests and treatment, cancer screenings and other preventive health services provided at community health centers, city and county health departments, Urban Indian health centers, rural health clinics, universities, Planned Parenthood affiliates, and stand-alone women’s health clinics. California’s Title X provider network includes more than 360 health centers that collectively serve 1,000,000 low-income individuals each year in 38 of California’s 58 counties.

“We applaud the California State Senate for taking action to protect the essential reproductive health services provided through the Title X program, and thank Senator Leyva for her leadership on this issue,” said Julie Rabinovitz, President and CEO of Essential Access Health, the Title X grantee for the state. “We cannot and will not allow the Trump administration to deny Title X patients access to the time-sensitive services and information they need to make personal decisions about their health, and reverse the progress California has made in reducing unintended pregnancy rates over the past three decades.” Earlier this month, Essential Access filed a lawsuit in federal court to block the Title X regulations from taking effect.

“The Title X program funds critical reproductive health services and the most recent actions by the federal government will clearly hurt California women and families. California must continue to resist these harmful federal regulations. SJR 4 sends a clear message that we will continue to stand in strong support of access to these vital services that Californians depend on,” said Senator Leyva.

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Essential Access Health champions and promotes quality sexual and reproductive health care for all. Essential Access achieves its mission through an umbrella of programs and services, including health center support initiatives, provider training, advanced clinical research, public policy and outreach, and awareness campaigns. As the administrator of the nation’s largest and most diverse Title X system in the country, Essential Access partners with a robust provider network that collectively serves over 1,000,000 low-income Californians each year at more than 360 health centers across the state.