Attorney General Bonta Defends Federally-Funded Family Planning Program

OAKLAND – California Attorney General Rob Bonta, New York Attorney General Letitia James, Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum, and Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson, leading a coalition of 24 attorneys general, filed an amicus brief today in Ohio v. Becerra, defending access to the federally-funded family planning services provided by the Title X program. The coalition supports the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) final rule that sought to unwind the harmful impacts previously imposed on Title X by the Trump Administration. The attorneys general oppose Ohio’s lawsuit as well as its motion for a preliminary injunction, which seeks to stop HHS from implementing and enforcing the rule.

“Through its final rule, the Biden Administration has undone the tremendous harms the Trump Administration caused the individuals and families who were forced to bear the brunt of reduced access to Title X’s basic yet critical healthcare services,” said Attorney General Bonta. “The final rule ensures access to equitable, affordable, client-centered family planning services, and reduces barriers to care and health disparities among underserved communities. As we fight back against coordinated attacks on basic reproductive healthcare throughout the country, it’s become more evident that Title X is a program that should be uplifted, not restricted. We support HHS’ efforts to protect this critical program.”

The Title X program funds not only family planning counseling and access to various contraceptive methods, but also critical screenings for high blood pressure, anemia, diabetes, sexually transmitted diseases, as well as cervical and breast cancer. The Trump Administration’s 2019 Rule led to a dramatic loss of Title X providers nationwide. Due to this loss of providers, the number of clients served by the program dropped by 60% from 2018 to 2020. As a result, low-income, uninsured, and racial and ethnic minorities’ access to Title X family planning services decreased.

In May, Attorney General Bonta co-led a coalition of attorneys general in submitting a comment letter to HHS commending the agency for its work to undo the Trump Administration’s 2019 Rule through the promulgation of its new Proposed Rule. The 2019 Rule harmed women, those who live in rural areas, people of color, and members of the LGBTQ community. The Proposed Rule put the Title X program back on track to providing these underserved communities with quality and accessible medical care. The Proposed Rule would allow Title X clinics to share information with their patients about their reproductive healthcare options; provide patients with referrals for an abortion, when requested; provide pregnant patients referrals for prenatal care; and remove the physical separation of Title X funded services from abortion care.

In October, HHS issued its final rule, and the rule has already led to the expansion of the Title X program in California. According to projections, under the new rule, in 2022, the state’s Title X provider network will include 66 health centers operating 392 clinic sites in 29 counties. It’s estimated that over 500,000 patients will be served by Title X providers next year. In contrast, the Trump Administration’s 2019 rule led to a significant loss of Title X providers – going from 366 health centers in 38 counties before the rule to 229 health centers in only 18 counties. 

In today’s brief, the attorneys general argue that the harms done to patients by Trump’s 2019 Rule cannot be overstated. The rule resulted in a dramatic loss of Title X providers which hurt patients, the providers, and overall public health. The coalition also explains that HHS’ final rule is critical to the care of underserved communities, and without it, patients struggled to access family planning services and when they did often received lower-quality care or had to pay out-of-pocket for services. 

Attorney General Bonta has been a proponent and defender of access to quality, reproductive healthcare.

• This month, Attorney General Bonta joined a coalition of 20 state attorneys general in filing an amicus brief urging the court to halt certain regulations passed in Indiana that restrict access to abortion, arguing that several provisions of the state’s laws place an undue burden on the ability of individuals to exercise their constitutional right to terminate a pregnancy before viability.
• In October, Attorney General Bonta took action against Senate Bill 8 — Texas’ unconstitutional abortion ban — by joining an amicus brief in support of challengers of the law and urging the U.S. Supreme Court to restore an injunction barring enforcement of the law.

• In September, Attorney General Bonta joined a multistate coalition in filing an amicus brief in Planned Parenthood v. Wilson — a case challenging South Carolina’s unconstitutional abortion ban.

• In July, Attorney General Bonta co-led a coalition of state attorneys general in submitting a comment letter to HHS supporting the reversal of the Trump Administration’s 2019 Separate Abortion Billing Rule that violated Section 1303 of the Affordable Care Act.

Attorneys General Bonta, James, Rosenblum, and Ferguson were joined by the attorneys general of Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Wisconsin, and the District of Columbia in filing the amicus brief.

A copy of the brief is available here.