Joco Today

Representative Sharice Davids, along with Representatives Judy Chu (CA-28) and Dina Titus (NV-01), reintroduced legislation to increase access to birth control and reproductive health care services. The Expanding Access to Family Planning Act would fund the Title X Family Planning program, which provides comprehensive, confidential family planning and preventive health services, often to low-income or minority populations. Currently, there are three Title X clinics in Kansas’ Third District. Senators Tina Smith (MN) and Patty Murray (WA) introduced companion legislation in the Senate.

This Saturday marks the one-year anniversary of the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade, which significantly limited access to reproductive health care across the country. In the Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization ruling, Justice Clarence Thomas issued a concurring opinion stating the Supreme Court “should reconsider” their previous ruling that affirmed access to contraception.

“As access to reproductive health care is under attack and our personal freedoms are called into question, it has never been more important to ensure Kansans can accessbirth control, life-saving preventive care, and family planning services through vital resources like Title X clinics,” said Davids. “These clinics deliver services that many Kansans rely on to plan a family and stay healthy, and we should do everything in our power to safeguard their resources.”

The Title X Family Planning Program is the only federal program dedicated to providing comprehensive family planning and preventive health care services. In 2016 alone, over 4 million Americans relied on Title X clinics for their contraception counseling, breast and cervical cancer screenings, sexually transmitted infections testing and treatment, and pregnancy diagnosis and counseling.

The Expanding Access to Family Planning Act would:

• Provide $512 million annually for 10 years for Title X services, as the program is subjected to an unpredictable funding stream that is insufficient to meet the national needs.
• Deliver $50 million in mandatory funding for clinic construction, renovation, and related infrastructure enhancements for each of the next 10 fiscal years.
• Reinstate regulations prohibiting discrimination of providers who deliver Title X services.
• Require that pregnancy counseling include information about prenatal care and delivery, infant care, foster care, adoption, and pregnancy termination, unless a patient does not have any interest in receiving information about an option.

"In the face of relentless attacks on reproductive rights by extreme MAGA Republicans and judges nationwide, Congress must stand up for Title X so it can offer quality, client-centered, and affordable family planning and sexual health care to millions,” said Representative Judy Chu (CA-28). “While the Biden-Harris Administration has made strides in restoring Title X services, our legislation goes further: more funding, improved clinic infrastructure, and reinstating anti-discrimination rules for providers. With the Dobbs decision disproportionately harming low-income families, uninsured individuals, rural communities, people of color, and LGBTQ+ individuals, enacting this legislation would be a lifeline for them."

“One year ago this week, women across Nevada and the U.S. were denied the freedom to make decisions about their own bodies and their families’ futures,” said Representative Dina Titus (NV-01). “By fully funding family planning services, we can protect their rights to access lifesaving preventive care, birth control, and other reproductive health services at a time when these freedoms are under constant attack.”

“At a time when Americans’ reproductive freedoms are under attack from extremist Republicans, the Title X Family Planning Program is more important than ever,” said Senator Tina Smith (MN). “Title X funding provides American women with access to critical reproductive health services. I invite all my Republican colleagues who claim to champion family planning services to join us in supporting this commonsense legislation that will protect women’s access to birth control, pregnancy counseling, basic infertility services, and more.”

Davids has been a champion for increased access to sexual and reproductive health care through the Title X program as there are currently three Title X clinics in Kansas’ Third District: the Franklin County Health Department in Ottawa and two Johnson County Health Department locations in Mission and Olathe. Davids has supported appropriations funding for the Title X program every year since being sworn into Congress. She has also voted twice to support the Women’s Health Protection Act, which safeguards access to reproductive health care in all states across the country

The bill is supported by the National Family Planning & Reproductive Health Association, NARAL Pro-Choice, National Council of Jewish Women, Physicians for Reproductive Health, Guttmacher Institute, Upstream USA, National Coalition of STD Directors, Planned Parenthood Federation of America, and Power to Decide.

Original source can be found here.