As the Biden administration begins the process of ending a gag rule restricting access to abortion put in place by former President Donald Trump, state reproductive health advocates are urging Mainers to submit comments within the next week in favor of the proposal.
As Beacon previously reported, the gag rule restricts Title X projects — which are geared specifically toward providing family planning and preventative health services for low-income and uninsured people — from performing, promoting, referring patients for, or supporting abortion unless a patient explicitly states they want to have an abortion. Even then, patients can only be given a list of other health care providers who may, or may not, offer abortion services.
Following the rule’s implementation, more than 1,000 health clinics in 33 states left the Title X program. And even with the gag rule only in place for five months of 2019, data shows that over 844,000 fewer patients received care than had gotten it the previous year.
In Maine, there are currently no Title X providers. But as Beacon previously reported, the demand for sexual and reproductive health care hasn’t diminished during the pandemic. In addition, at the national level, 33% of women of reproductive age “experienced a cancellation or delay of contraceptive or other reproductive health care,” according to a 2020 survey, with those numbers especially high among Black, Latina and LGBTQ people.
More than 1,400 people in Maine submitted comments in opposition to the Title X gag rule, according to Planned Parenthood Maine Action Fund. Now the group is urging Mainers to again submit comments, this time in support of Biden’s proposal to end the gag rule.
The deadline to comment is May 17.
“Ending the Title X gag rule and other proposed changes to strengthen the Title X program mean more Mainers will have affordable, patient-centered, quality health care, and robustly funding the state family planning system will allow providers to fully meet Mainers’ needs for affordable sexual and reproductive health care,” said Nicole Clegg, senior vice president of public affairs at Planned Parenthood of Northern New England and Planned Parenthood Maine Action Fund.
“No matter where you live, how much money you make, or what your insurance status is, you deserve high-quality, affordable care in your community,” Clegg continued. “This is the time to make bold, forward-thinking changes at the state and federal level that will firmly set our country on a path to a more just and equitable future.”
Julia Whyel, Planned Parenthood patient, added that it’s frustrating that access to health care is even a topic of debate.
“For many women like me, there’s nothing political about Planned Parenthood: Planned Parenthood is our trusted healthcare provider. Which is why it’s so discouraging to see a few politicians doing everything they can to politicize health care and make it harder for people to get care at Planned Parenthood,” Whyel said.
Biden’s Title X gag rule reform effort is one of a number of initiatives the administration has pursued on the reproductive health front, such as ending the “global gag rule,” an anti-abortion policy that undermined rights around the world; putting forward measures to improve maternal health outcomes, particularly for Black women; and lifting a restriction on medication abortion.
Those efforts at the federal level come as Republican legislators in Maine introduced what Planned Parenthood called an “unprecedented” number of anti-abortion bills at the beginning of this year’s legislative session. The measures are unlikely to move forward, though, with Democratic majorities in the Senate and House and a Democratic governor.
Photo: Hundreds of marchers gathered outside of Portland High School in January 2020 | Cara DeRose, Beacon
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