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"No American Women should be denied access to family planning assistance because of her economic condition. I believe, therefore that we should establish as a national goal of the provision of family planning services… to all who want but cannot afford them."
Title X is the only federal program dedicated solely to funding family planning services for people who do not have health insurance or cannot afford reproductive healthcare and contraceptives. Title X is often their only source for family planning information and services, Additionally, Title X ensures that these services are voluntary, confidential, and affordable (2) Title X offers services to over five million women (representing 70 percent of all subsidized family planning clients each year) in almost 4600 clinics nationwide. Of the 6.5 million women who receive subsidized family planning services each year, 69% do so at a Title X-supported clinic. (3) As many as three in ten women in their twenties- the peak years for both childbearing and the need for contraception- are uninsured. (4)
Because the program has remained under-funded for so many years, clinics are struggling to provide newer and more effective methods of contraception, as well as testing and treatment for sexually transmitted infections (STIs). Federal funding for Title X has remained stagnant and has not kept up with inflation, so family planning providers remain dependent on donations from corporations and individuals to stay afloat. Meanwhile, misguided abstinence-only-until-marriage programs that exclude information about contraception receive growing support.
Write a letter to your local paper emphasizing that Title X services and funding must be a national priority. Find your local newspaper's address here. For more information on Title X and family planning issues currently going through legislation please visit: Cited References
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One of the best ways we can ensure healthy communities here in the U.S. is to advocate for policies and programs that effectively work to reduce unintended pregnancies, by increasing access to a full range of safe, effective, affordable contraceptives and family planning services. Title X ("ten"), the National Family Planning Program established in 1970, provides high quality reproductive healthcare and contraceptive services to American women. Title X funds enable clinics to provide an assortment of preventative health services, including contraceptive services, STI (sexually transmitted infection) risk prevention counseling, screening for cervical and breast cancer, health education, and referrals for other health social services. (1)
But the rising cost of Title X projects, including increased cost of contraceptives and a growing uninsured population, has not been reflected in the annual federal budget. President Bush has not proposed any increase in this program since taking office in 2001. Had Title X funding kept up with medical inflation since FY 1980, it would now be funded at $670 million per year. Funding for Title X is therefore 57% lower in real dollars than it was in FY 1980. (5) 