FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 13, 2017
[email protected]
In response to President Trump signing a law to undermine the Department of Health and Human Services’ Title X rule, Kaylie Hanson Long, NARAL Pro-Choice America national communications director, issued the following statement:
“President Trump’s decision to take this action behind closed doors shows he knows how wildly unpopular his actions are. It’s a shame that despite the millions of Americans who rely on Title X for protection, President Trump is going to extraordinary lengths to control women and our reproductive freedom. If you have to hide what you’re doing, then you probably shouldn’t be doing it in the first place. Women and families deserve better.”
Each year, more than four million young and low-income people receive basic reproductive healthcare through the nearly 4,000 clinics nationwide receiving Title X funds. Most Title X patients are low-income women, and disproportionately women of color, who are uninsured and ineligible for Medicaid. Under federal law, Title X funds are already not allowed to be used for abortion services.
The reversal of this rule could make it easier for state politicians to block a woman’s access to birth control and critical preventive care at women’s health clinics across the country. This move is in direct conflict with numerous court decisions that have ruled against attempts to block women from receiving preventive healthcare at clinics that also provide abortion care.
NARAL Pro-Choice America and its network of state affiliates are dedicated to protecting and expanding reproductive freedom for all Americans. NARAL works to guarantee that every woman has the right to make personal decisions regarding the full range of reproductive choices, including preventing unintended pregnancy, bearing healthy children, and choosing legal abortion. In recognition of its work defending our constitutional right to choose, Fortune Magazine described NARAL as “one of the top 10 advocacy groups in America.”