Bennet, Hickenlooper, Colleagues Introduce Legislation to Protect Access to Reproductive Health Care Funding

Press Release

Colorado U.S. Senators Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper joined their Democratic colleagues to introduce the Expanding Access to Family Planning Act. This legislation would protect and improve access to critical reproductive health care services such as birth control, cancer screenings, and other treatments by providing a strong and consistent funding source for the Title X Family Planning Program.

"Reproductive health care is under attack in this country," said Bennet. "Congress has an obligation to strengthen Title X and protect the Americans who depend on it."

"Health care is a right not a privilege. That includes reproductive health care. Strengthening the Title X Family Planning Program will ensure millions of Americans have access to critical services such as contraceptive care, cancer screenings, and pregnancy counseling," said Hickenlooper.

The Title X Family Planning Program is the only federal program dedicated to providing comprehensive family planning and preventive health services. Tens of thousands of Coloradans and hundreds of thousands of Americans rely on the program for essential reproductive health care. In 2020 alone, over 1.5 million patients received family planning services through Title X. Title X is funded through the annual appropriations process, which subjects the program to an unpredictable funding stream that is insufficient to meet national need. The senators' Expanding Access to Family Planning Act would provide mandatory funding for Title X.

The Expanding Access to Family Planning Act would:

Provide $500 million in mandatory funding for Title X services for each of the next 10 fiscal years. This is well above the $286 million the program received in FY2022.
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.

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