TITLE X FUNDING ANNOUNCEMENT: Senator Murray Slams Trump Administration Gimmick to Speed Up Damaging Restrictions to Family Planning Program that Will Jeopardize Care for Women

Health Department plans to announce Title X family planning grants with shortened six-month duration, half that of past funding cycles 

Decision will hasten Trump Administration’s ability to implement its damaging proposed changes to the program which will restrict access to care for women and institute a domestic gag rule on care providers 

State-by-state data from HELP Committee Democratic staff show current impact of Title X Program for women across the country 

Earlier this week Senator Murray sent a letter pushing Trump Administration to examine damage of its proposed restrictions to Title X program 

Senator Murray: “President Trump and his Administration are so passionate about attacking women’s access to health care that they literally can’t wait to get moving on it. Shortening these grants is a gimmick, plain and simple…”

(Washington, D.C.) –Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), top Democrat on the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, released the following statement on news that the Trump Administration plans to announce Title X funding grants for FY 2018 for a six-month grant cycle instead of a year-long cycle as has been the case in past years.

“President Trump and his Administration are so passionate about attacking women’s access to health care that they literally can’t wait to get moving on it. Shortening these grants is a gimmick, plain and simple—and it’s all about moving as quickly as possible to undermine health care access for millions of people and to gag providers from discussing the full range of reproductive care options with patients. Families across the country, and the providers that help them get the care they need, deserve better, and I’m going to fight this gimmick and keep fighting for them.” 

The decision to end the grant cycle earlier than usual will open the door for the Trump Administration to more quickly implement changes it recently proposed to the Title X family planning program that will dramatically restrict the program and implement a domestic gag rule that will prevent providers from discussing patients’ full range of reproductive care options with them.

Senator Murray has previously criticized the Administration’s proposed changes to the Title X program, led 44 of her Democratic colleagues in submitting a comment opposing them, and recently sent a letter pressing the Trump Administration to provide any information, analyses, and evaluations it has conducted in regard to its proposed changes.