Planned Parenthood has been the largest single provider of federal Title X-funded services, serving about 40 percent of the 4 million patients who receive the government program’s services, or about 1.5 million patients. Those services include all manner of health care, not just reproductive health. Planned Parenthood’s Title X services provides affordable birth control and reproductive health care for women, and also for men — and has been the go-to place for compassionate services for many who couldn’t afford health care otherwise.
Planned Parenthood has been the target of Republicans and right-wing anti-abortion religious groups for decades, but now under the Trump administration, attacks have escalated. On July 15, a final federal rule went into effect making it impossible for the organization to continue receiving Title X funding, causing Planned Parenthood to leave the program in mid-August.
Between The Lines’ Melinda Tuhus spoke with Amanda Skinner, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood of Southern New England, which serves the states of Connecticut and Rhode Island. Here, she talks about why the organization is no longer participating in Title X, and what that decision means for their patients.
For more information visit Planned Parenthood at plannedparenthood.org.
