SOTU Reality Check: The Real State of Health Care and Reproductive Rights
For Immediate Release: Feb. 6, 2019 (Updated: Feb. 6, 2019, midnight)
Washington – In response to President Trump’s second State of the Union, Planned Parenthood Federation of America released the following statement.
Statement from Dr. Leana Wen, president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America:
Tonight, we heard the President make inaccurate and deliberately misleading claims about safe, legal abortion and bills that are meant to protect women’s access if Roe v. Wade were to be overturned – something that is increasingly likely. As a physician, I know what these bills actually do is protect women’s access to abortion, a common, safe medical procedure that one in four women will have in her lifetime.
“The American people issued a mandate in the 2018 midterm elections: they want more access to health care, not less – and support for Roe as the law of the land is at its highest point ever. That’s why we’re seeing state lawmakers stepping up to introduce and pass legislation that expands access to the full range of reproductive health care, including the right to safe, legal abortion.
“Planned Parenthood is proud to have Speaker Pelosi’s leadership of a pro-reproductive health House of Representatives. We look forward to working with her – and with states across the country – to advance a pro-women, pro-family, and pro-economy agenda that affirms health care as a fundamental human right, and women’s rights—and all people’s rights—as human rights.
Instead of supporting progressive reproductive health legislation, the Trump-Pence administration is poised to finalize a sweeping gag rule that would dismantle the nation’s program for affordable birth control and reproductive health care, and makes it illegal for health care providers in the program to refer patients to abortion.
The program, Title X, serves four million people each year and is designed to ensure that people struggling to make ends meet can still access birth control, STI testing, and cancer screenings. Federal law already bars the Title X funds from being used for abortion – this gag rule is about blocking access to preventive care.
There are two main provisions in the gag rule that could put health care access at risk for millions of people:
- THE GAG ITSELF: The gag rule would make it illegal for Title X health care providers across the country to tell patients how and where they can access abortion — even if that patient’s health depends on it. Censoring and gagging these providers threatens the patient-provider relationship and prevents patients from having information about all of their options.
- BLOCKING ACCESS TO PLANNED PARENTHOOD: This rule would also include onerous “physical separation” requirements on health centers that provide abortion. It’s specifically designed to block patients from coming to Planned Parenthood which serves 41 percent of the 4 million people who rely on the program for health care. This would threaten access for millions of people to the basic care they need — birth control, cancer screenings, STD testing and treatment, HIV services, and well-woman visits.
The majority of patients in the program identify as people of color, Hispanic, or Latino. This is not an isolated attack — since day one, the Trump-Pence administration has aggressively targeted the health and rights of people of color, poor people, and women.
- Vice: This Is What a White Supremacist Department of Justice Looks Like
- Time: How 3 of Donald Trump's Executive Orders Target Communities of Color
- The New Yorker: The Trump Administration Targets the Poor
- CNN: America's poor becoming more destitute under Trump, UN report says
- Al Jazeera: One year under Trump: 'An assault on women's health'
- Quartz: The Trump administration isn’t just curtailing women’s rights; it’s systematically eroding trust in women
- The majority of patients in the program identify as people of color, Hispanic, or Latino.
- 33% of users identified as Hispanic or Latino (including some patients who identify both as Hispanic or Latino and as a race outlined below)
- 22% identify as Black or African American,
- 4% identify as Asian
- 4% percent identify as one or more races
- 1% identify as either American Indian or Alaska Native
- 1% identify Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander
Planned Parenthood’s Role in the Title X Program
- Planned Parenthood serves 41% of the 4 million people who rely on the Title X program
- 52% of Planned Parenthood health centers are in rural or medically underserved communities, and in many communities, Planned Parenthood is the only provider of affordable reproductive health care or the only provider that offers specialized care like an IUD or the birth control shot.
- Even when there are other providers available in a community, they often don’t have the capacity to serve additional patients. Community health centers themselves say there is no way they could fill the gap.
- Trump’s Gag Rule could put affordable health care out of reach for many underserved communities, including communities of color and rural communities.
- 73% of Americans
- More than 200 members of Congress
- 15 governors
- 80 mayors
- 274 state legislators
- More than 100 public health organizations
- Overwhelming numbers of doctors, nurses, and other health care providers
- Not to mention the 4 million people who rely on Title X each year
This rule is opposed by the general public, the medical community, lawmakers, and public health experts. When the rule was announced, more than 500,000 Americans voiced their opposition by submitting comments to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
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Planned Parenthood is the nation’s leading provider and advocate of high-quality, affordable health care for women, men, and young people, as well as the nation’s largest provider of sex education. With more than 600 health centers across the country, Planned Parenthood organizations serve all patients with care and compassion, with respect and without judgment. Through health centers, programs in schools and communities, and online resources, Planned Parenthood is a trusted source of reliable health information that allows people to make informed health decisions. We do all this because we care passionately about helping people lead healthier lives.