Oregon won’t use federal funds for family planning clinics
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Oregon’s health care agency said Tuesday it will no longer use federal dollars to fund family planning clinics because of new Trump administration rules that impose additional hurdles for women seeking abortion.
Patrick Allen, director of the Oregon Health Authority, said in a statement that banning taxpayer-funded clinics from making abortion referrals — as the newly implemented federal rules require — would cause Oregon to violate its own laws on reproductive care.
The new federal rules also prohibit clinics that receive federal funds from sharing office space with abortion providers.
Oregon has used the so-called Title X grants to fund clinics since 1970, and OHA says clinics funded by those grants served more than 44,000 women statewide in 2018.
Title X has funneled $14.5 million into Oregon’s clinics in the past five years, said Delia Hernndez, a spokeswoman with the Oregon Health Authority. Those funds go to 106 different clinics overseen by the agency, including rural health centers, community clinics and Planned Parenthood, she said.
The state has other funds it will use to cover those costs, Allen said.
“Every person in Oregon should know this federal action will not prevent health clinics and care providers from continuing to offer the full range of high-quality, personalized and trusted reproductive health services they have always delivered,” he said.
Oregon is the lead plaintiff in a federal lawsuit that challenges the so-called gag rules on abortion.
The state has not used any federal funds in its clinics since the lawsuit was filed in July and had asked the federal Department of Health and Human Services to allow it to remain a Title X recipient as long as Oregon didn’t use any of the funds until the case was decided.
Last week, however, federal health authorities denied that request and said that Oregon must come into compliance with the new rules on abortion referrals or lose its status as a Title X grant recipient.
Planned Parenthood and several other providers withdrew from the program earlier this month rather than comply with the newly implemented rule prohibiting participating clinics from referring women for abortions.
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News release from the Oregon Health Authority:
Oregon ends nearly 50-year participation in federal Title X program in response to Trump administration gag rule
Read OHA’s letter to Health and Human Services
Listen to OHA Director Pat Allen’s statement
August 27, 2019
After the Oregon Health Authority declined to use federal dollars in the wake of new Trump administration rules that prevent health practitioners from discussing abortion with their patients, the federal Department of Health and Human Services directed Oregon to give up its Title X grant or face grant termination. In response, Oregon has no choice but to relinquish funding and end its Title X grant.
Health clinics that received Title X funding provide comprehensive reproductive health care that helps their patients plan the timing and size of their families, prevent unwanted pregnancies, diagnose and treat sexually transmitted infections and detect cancer. Last year Title X-funded clinics served 44,241 Oregonians.
Patrick Allen, director of the Oregon Health Authority, issued the following statement regarding the new federal gag rule and OHA’s decision to leave the Title X program:
The new federal gag rule, which was not informed by evidence-based medical practice, bars health care providers from fully informing Oregon women about their most personal reproductive health choices and denies them access to a comprehensive range of health services. Oregon is the lead plaintiff, joined by 19 other states and the District of Columbia, as well as Planned Parenthood Federation of America and the American Medical Association, in a lawsuit challenging the Title X rule.
The federal deadline leaves Oregon no choice but to end our nearly 50-year participation in Title X and relinquish our grant. We cannot violate our own state laws that guarantee Oregon women full access to reproductive health services and prohibit any restriction on benefits, services or information regarding a woman’s right to choose to terminate a pregnancy.
Oregon stands in solidarity with other states in maintaining that the new Title X rule will reduce access to birth control, cancer screenings and reproductive choices. Oregon is fortunate to have funds available to continue offering comprehensive reproductive health care services. Every person in Oregon should know this federal action will not prevent health clinics and care providers from continuing to offer the full range of high-quality, personalized and trusted reproductive health services they have always delivered.
