Due to the Trump administration’s harmful gag rule, Washington state has not received federal Title X family planning funds since 2019
Senator Murray: “After years of fighting back against the Trump Administration’s cruel gag rule, I’m relieved Washington state will once again be able to receive Title X funds that help people get the reproductive health care they need from the providers they trust, including Planned Parenthood.”
(Washington, D.C.) – Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, announced $750,000 in Title X funding from the American Rescue Plan for the Washington State Department of Health, the first Title X funding for Washington state since the reversal of former President Trump’s Title X gag rule, which Senator Murray fought to overturn. Senator Murray pushed to include the Title X funding in the American Rescue Plan.
Title X family planning clinics have played a critical role in ensuring access to a broad range of family planning and related preventive health services for millions of patients, particularly those with low incomes or without insurance. Title X is the only federal grant program dedicated solely to providing people with comprehensive family planning services.
The Trump administration’s harmful gag rule prohibited providers who receive Title X funds from informing patients about the full range of reproductive health care options, including abortion, and slashed the Title X-funded health care network’s capacity in half. This meant that Washington state was denied much needed family planning funding and compromised the health care of millions patients nationwide—disproportionately women of color—who rely on Title X health centers for reproductive health care. Washington state is now part of the Title X network once again thanks to a new Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) final rule on Title X, which reversed the Trump Administration’s harmful gag rule. The new rule follows efforts led by Senator Murray urging HHS to finalize the rule as quickly as possible.
“This is good news for Washington state patients. After years of fighting back against the Trump Administration’s cruel gag rule, I’m relieved Washington state will once again be able to receive Title X funds that help people get the reproductive health care they need from the providers they trust, including Planned Parenthood. For providers, that means offering patients birth control, STI screenings, and cancer screenings that keep them healthy and it means providers can inform patients about all their options, including their right to abortion,” said Senator Murray.
“This is an important victory, but with reproductive rights under attack across the country and at the Supreme Court, our fight doesn’t stop here. I’ll keep doing everything I can to ensure that everyone—no matter their zip-code, their income, or where they get their care—has access to reproductive health care.”
Senator Murray has consistently fought to strengthen and preserve the Title X program, and has been a vocal critic of the Trump Administration’s Title X gag rule and other efforts to undermine reproductive health care. Early in 2019, Senator Murray released a memo highlighting some of the negative impacts of the rule and comments from patients, providers, city and county officials, and religious organizations submitted in opposition.
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