Attorney General Becerra Obtains Preliminary Injunction Protecting California’s Title X Program

California has the largest Title X program in the country, serving more than one million of the four million Title X patients nationwide

SACRAMENTO – California Attorney General Xavier Becerra today obtained a preliminary injunction halting implementation of the Trump-Pence Administration’s new Title X rule. The new rule seeks to restrict access to critical preventive healthcare and access to birth control. It would also prohibit doctors from providing accurate information for patients and referrals for abortion. The order by U.S. District Court Judge Chen blocks the rule’s implementation in California, and protects the patients, clinics, and providers who would have been harmed by the rule’s dramatic alterations to the Title X program, the only federal program dedicated solely to family planning.

"Today’s ruling is a victory for women and their healthcare providers in California," said Attorney General Xavier Becerra. "Women make their own health decisions with advice from their doctors, not the President or Vice-President. Period. Today’s ruling blocks the Trump Administration from yet another attempt to roll back women’s health by implementing their dangerous and illegal gag rule. In California, we will continue to provide accurate, comprehensive reproductive healthcare, including safe and legal abortion, to all women and families across our state."

On May 22, 2018, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services released a dubious proposed rule that would place several harmful restrictions on the Title X program. California is home to the largest Title X program in the nation. The program funds healthcare providers throughout the state to support preventive care, including critical reproductive healthcare. Attorney General Becerra announced his opposition shortly after the proposed rule became public. On July 18, 2018, Attorney General Becerra requested that the Office of Management and Budget reopen its review of the rule given the insufficient and controversial reasoning offered by the Administration for its proposed changes. On July 30, 2018, he led a coalition of 13 attorneys general in filing a comment letter opposing the Trump-Pence Administration’s proposal. Attorney General Becerra also filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request on August 28, 2018, seeking documentation about the formulation of the proposal. On March 4, 2019, he filed a lawsuit challenging the final rule in the Northern District Court of California, claiming the proposed restrictions to Title X disregard the rule of law and harm California’s healthcare providers and over one million women in our state who rely on Title X for healthcare services.

A copy of the District Court order is available here.