Title X Is Funding Crisis Pregnancy Centers, While Planned Parenthood Is Forced To Withdraw
By: Jo Yurcaba, Bustle, August 20, 2019
Planned Parenthood announced Monday that it would officially withdraw from the Title X family planning program due to an anti-abortion rule issued by the Trump administration earlier this year. In addition to Planned Parenthood, seven states and many family planning organizations nationwide have announced that they will be withdrawing from Title X so they don’t have to compromise the comprehensive care they provide patients. The withdrawals leave a void for low-income patients, some of whom could turn to a network of crisis pregnancy centers that received Title X funds for the first time this year.
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Instead of going to Planned Parenthood clinics, McGill Johnson said some Title X funding will go to centers like Obria, which won’t be able to fill Planned Parenthood’s shoes.
Click here to read about CfA’s efforts to hold Obria accountable.
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A May report from Rewire.News noted that Obria told HHS in one of its Title X applications that it would provide access to birth control. But Obria’s founder and CEO, Kathleen Bravo, wrote to supporters in a January email that the clinics’ “model is committed to never provide hormonal contraception nor abortions,” according to a report by the Campaign for Accountability. “Obria promotes abstinence-based sexual risk avoidance education — the most effective public health model for promoting healthy behaviors,” Bravo’s email reportedly continued. Bustle has reached out to Obria for comment.
Additionally, The Guardian reported that Obria’s application for federal funding referenced the Femm app, created and led by the Femm Foundation, whose board is against abortion access. The app allows users to “avoid or achieve” pregnancy by tracking menstruation and other details, while also doubting the efficacy of birth control. Obria reportedly wrote in its application for funding that the Femm Foundation’s app and methods were central to its abstinence-only teachings, despite the fact that Title X grantees are supposed “to offer a broad range of acceptable and effective medically [FDA] approved contraceptive methods and related services,” according to HHS. Bustle has reached out to HHS for comment.