Issue 130

August 28, 2019

"History isn’t something you look back at and say it was inevitable, it happens because people make decisions that are sometimes very impulsive and of the moment, but those moments are cumulative realities.”

☛ Marsha P. Johnson

Emma Lindström

? Gag us with a spoon ?

From the jump, the Trump admin has waged war against Planned Parenthood. Now they’ve forced PP's hand, and the org has withdrawn from the federal government's Title X program, which is supposed to fund reproductive healthcare for low-income Americans who couldn't otherwise afford it. This week, we’ll discuss what this latest setback means for the 4 million+ people who rely on Title X funding, and what you can do about it.

The Trump admin has issued a new rule that would prevent Title X providers from referring patients to abortion clinics, providing abortions, or even talking to patients about all their options for a pregnancy. Title X is the federal program that pays for family planning services for low-income Americans, but even though federal funds never paid for abortions in these Title X facilities, the new restrictions put nothing short of a gag order on organizations like PP that provide abortions as part of a full spectrum of care. In response to this blatant attack on the legal right to abortion, orgs like PP have taken a stand, pulling out of the Title X program and forgoing federal funds so that they can carry on their mission and prioritize the needs of their patients.

In many places across the nation, organizations like Planned Parenthood have been the last and only locations for people to access affordable reproductive services under the Title X program. (In Utah, Planned Parenthood was the only Title X provider.) But now that orgs like PP are having to forgo these federal funds in order to continue to provide crucial healthcare services unencumbered, it'll only become harder for Americans to access essential care. We’ll see clinics close, higher fees, and longer delays. For many low-income communities, people of color, immigrants, people who live in restrictive states, and other vulnerable communities, a future without reproductive autonomy is already here—but now it’s about to get even worse.

If we are going to protect reproductive rights we need to step up for those who have already lost their autonomy and access. How, you ask?

—Donate to reproductive justice organizations and clinics that have lost funding, such as Planned Parenthood, Advocates for Youth, & CLPP Conference

—Call your state representatives and ask them to fill in federal funding gaps at the state level