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Yahoo
02-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Trump Administration Freezes Title X Funding to 16 Groups
Planned Parenthood supporters rally outside the U.S. Supreme Court on April 2, 2025, in Washington, D.C., on account of a separate matter regarding oral arguments which could decide if states can strip Planned Parenthood of Medicaid funds. Credit - Drew Angerer—Getty Images The Trump Administration is withholding millions of dollars allocated for family planning services from more than a dozen organizations. Enacted in 1970, the federal family planning program known as Title X makes millions of dollars available to clinics that provide health care services like birth control, cancer screenings, and STI testing for people from low-income households. On March 31, Planned Parenthood—one of the largest Title X providers—said in a press release that nine of its affiliates received notices from the federal government that their Title X funding would be withheld starting April 1. According to Planned Parenthood, more than three-quarters of its affiliates receive Title X funding, and in 2023, there were more than 1.5 million visits to Planned Parenthood health centers that received Title X funding. One of the nine affiliates affected is Planned Parenthood Great Northwest, Hawai'i, Alaska, Indiana, Kentucky (PPGNHAIK), which serves those four states as well as Idaho and Washington. Its CEO, Rebecca Gibron, estimates that, as a result of the freeze, about $3 million a year will now be withheld from five of the six states PPGNHAIK serves: Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Alaska, and Hawaii. Gibron says that over half of PPGNHAIK's health centers across six states serve more than 40,000 patients a year through Title X. 'In our states, we are a safety net provider providing affordable birth control, cancer screenings, STI testing, and treatment,' Gibron says. 'These patients rely on Title X for their health care, and without this program, patients may have no access to this care at all.' Planned Parenthood Action Fund President and CEO Alexis McGill Johnson said in a press release that if people aren't able to access this care, cancers could go undetected, access to birth control could be reduced, and sexually transmitted infections could increase. A spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) told TIME in an email that the department is withholding Title X funds from 16 organizations 'pending an evaluation of possible violations of their grant terms, including based on Federal civil rights laws and the President's Executive Order 14218, 'Ending Taxpayer Subsidization of Open Borders,'' which Trump signed on Feb. 19. The Executive Order declares that undocumented immigrants are prohibited 'from obtaining most taxpayer-funded benefits.' 'HHS is conducting this evaluation to ensure these entities are in full compliance with Federal law and applicable grant terms, and to ensure responsible stewardship of taxpayer dollars,' the spokesperson said. They did not respond to questions about the details of the 'possible violations,' how much money was being withheld from the affected organizations, and which organizations were being impacted by the funding freeze. On March 25, the Wall Street Journal reported that HHS was considering freezing $27.5 million out of the more than $200 million allocated for Title X's annual budget. Gibron calls the withholding of funds "politically motivated.' She accuses the Trump Administration of wanting to 'shut down Planned Parenthood health centers to appease their anti-abortion backers,' saying that the Title X freeze is the 'latest attempt' by the Administration to defund Planned Parenthood. 'The fact is that Planned Parenthood health centers across the country serve millions of patients every year, regardless of their immigration status, political affiliation, race, or gender—everyone is welcome in a Planned Parenthood health center,' Gibron says. 'Access to fundamental reproductive and sexual health services is health care that everyone needs.' In 2019, during the first Trump Administration, the federal government implemented a new restriction on Title X recipients, barring them from providing abortion referrals (Title X dollars don't fund abortion services). The Guttmacher Institute, which researches and supports sexual and reproductive health and rights, found that that the restriction—often referred to as the'domestic gag rule'—combined with the COVID-19 pandemic, led to the loss of 981 health care centers from the Title X program and resulted in about 2.4 million fewer patients receiving care through the federal program in 2020 compared with 2018. The Biden Administration rescinded the domestic gag rule in 2021. Read More: South Carolina Wants to End Medicaid for Planned Parenthood Essential Access Health, which distributes Title X funds to clinics in California and Hawaii, said in a press release shared with TIME that it also received a notice that its Title X funds were being temporarily withheld while the group responds to 'an inquiry regarding compliance with federal policy and practices related to civil rights and Executive Orders focused on DEI activities within 10 days.' The day he took office, Trump signed an Executive Order aimed at dismantling diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts. 'This unprecedented, arbitrary, and immediate pause in distribution of critical resources is harmful to patients and providers,' Essential Access Health said in a press release shared with TIME. 'Any funding delay is detrimental, and an extended delay would devastate our family planning safety net.' Reproductive rights experts have condemned the Trump Administration's move to freeze Title X funds. Amy Friedrich-Karnik, director of federal policy at the Guttmacher Institute, says she wasn't shocked by the move, but that it is 'absolutely devastating.' According to Friedrich-Karnik, early estimates from Guttmacher Institute experts indicate that between 600,000 and 1.25 million people could be impacted by this funding freeze annually, based on the most recently available data on Title X from 2023. 'The impact of that program on people's access to needed reproductive health care services is so clear—how people have benefitted from that access and how it is a program that fills a very important gap for folks who can't get health care elsewhere," Friedrich-Karnik says. 'Not only are reproductive health care services like contraception, STI testing, cancer screenings at risk, [but] for many people, this is their only touchpoint with the health care system at all.' According to data from the HHS Office of Population Affairs, about 83% of patients who received care from clinics that received Title X funding in 2023 had family incomes at or below 250% of the federal poverty level. Friedrich-Karnik says data also shows that people of color are disproportionately likely to access Title X services. She calls the freeze 'a direct attack on health equity,' adding that Title X was established 'to ensure that historically underserved communities were able to access health care and reproductive health care,' and the Trump Administration's actions are penalizing Title X recipients 'for doing exactly what the program is set up to do.' Friedrich-Karnik says that the freeze is 'definitely an attack' on people from low-income households, 'who already have the most barriers to accessing health care services.' Contact us at letters@
Yahoo
02-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Wisconsin voters approve constitutional amendment to enshrine voter ID law
(Photo by Drew Angerer | Getty Images) Wisconsin voters on Tuesday approved a constitutional amendment to enshrine the state's already existing voter ID law into the state Constitution. The amendment was approved by 25 points. The Associated Press called the election less than 40 minutes after the polls closed. The Republican-authored referendum does not change the law that was already on the books in the state which requires that voters show an approved ID to register to vote and receive a ballot. Republican legislators said the amendment was necessary to protect the statute from being overturned by the state Supreme Court. In recent years, Republicans in the Legislature have increasingly turned to the constitutional amendment process to shape state law without needing the signature of Democratic Gov. Tony Evers. Democrats had accused Republicans of including the referendum on the ballot in this election as an effort to boost conservative turnout in the state Supreme Court election. Wisconsin's voter ID law has been on the books for more than a decade. During debate over the law, Republican lawmakers discussed its potential to help the party win elections by suppressing the vote of minority and college-aged people who tend to vote for Democrats. Democrats and voting rights groups said the law amounted to a 'poll tax.' A 2017 study found that the law kept 17,000 people from the polls in the 2016 election. Since its passage, a number of court decisions have adjusted the law, leading the state to ease restrictions and costs for obtaining a photo ID — particularly for people who can't afford a high cost or don't have proper documents such as a birth certificate. Republicans in Wisconsin and across the country have increasingly focused on photo ID requirements for voting since conspiracy theories about election administration emerged following President Donald Trump's false claims that he was robbed of victory because of voter fraud in the 2020 presidential campaign. While the law doesn't change, the approved language of the amendment gives the Legislature the authority to determine what types of ID qualify as valid for voting purposes. Currently, approved IDs include Wisconsin driver's licenses and state IDs, U.S. passports, military IDs and certain student IDs. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
24-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Exclusive: Louis DeJoy Resigns as Postmaster General
U.S. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy testifies during a House hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC May 17, 2023. Credit - Drew Angerer—Getty Images Louis DeJoy has resigned from his role as Postmaster General of the U.S. Postal Service, according to a source familiar with the matter. On Monday, he told the USPS Board of Governors that it would be his last day on the job. He named Deputy Postmaster General Doug Tulino to take over until the Board names a permanent replacement. DeJoy's departure comes weeks after he struck an agreement to allow Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency to help the agency cut costs and remove bureaucratic red tape. Last month, he told the Board to start looking for a successor, ending a five-year tenure running the agency through the COVID-19 pandemic, three elections that relied heavily on mail voting, and the implementation of a dramatic restructuring. This is a developing story and will be updated. Contact us at letters@
Yahoo
24-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Referendum asks voters to add voter ID provision to Wisconsin Constitution
(Photo by Drew Angerer | Getty Images) Wisconsin voters will weigh in on a constitutional amendment to enshrine the state's photo ID requirement to vote in the state Constitution in the April 1 election. On ballots this spring, voters will be asked 'shall section 1m of article III of the constitution be created to require that voters present valid photographic identification verifying their identity in order to vote in any election, subject to exceptions which may be established by law?' If approved, the state Constitution would be changed to include the provision that 'no qualified elector may cast a ballot in any election unless the elector presents valid photographic identification that verifies the elector's identity and that is issued by this state, the federal government, a federally recognized American Indian tribe or band in this state, or a college or university in this state.' The provision would give the Legislature the authority to determine which types of ID qualify as acceptable. Current law includes state issued driver's licenses and photo IDs, U.S. Passports, military IDs and unexpired university IDs (expired student IDs are allowed if proof of current enrollment such as a tuition receipt or course schedule is provided). In several recent elections, Wisconsin Republicans have put constitutional referenda on the ballot in an effort to make policy changes without needing Democratic Gov. Tony Evers' signature. Wisconsin has had a state law requiring voters to have an acceptable photo ID to register to vote and cast a ballot since 2011. During debate over the law, Republican lawmakers discussed its potential to help the party win elections by suppressing the vote of minority and college-aged people who tend to vote for Democrats. Democrats and voting rights groups said the law amounted to a 'poll tax.' A 2017 study found that the law kept 17,000 people from the polls in the 2016 election. Since its passage, a number of court decisions have adjusted the law, leading the state to ease restrictions and costs for obtaining a photo ID — particularly for people who can't afford a high cost or don't have proper documents such as a birth certificate. Republicans in Wisconsin and across the country have increasingly focused on photo ID requirements for voting since conspiracy theories about election administration emerged following the 2020 presidential campaign. The process to amend the state constitution requires that a proposal pass the Legislature in two consecutive sessions and then be approved by the state's voters in a referendum. If passed, the amendment would change little for Wisconsin voters because the existing law has been on the books in its current form for nearly a decade. When the amendment was proposed, Republicans said its goal was to protect the photo ID law from being struck down by the courts. 'I cannot say for certain how the Wisconsin Supreme Court would rule on voter ID laws, but I'm also not willing to risk the Wisconsin Supreme Court declaring voter ID laws unconstitutional,' Sen. Van Wanggaard said at a public hearing on the proposal. But Democrats say it's unnecessary to amend the constitution to add something that's already in state law and accuse Republicans of including the referendum on the ballot in this election in an effort to increase Republican turnout in the contested races for state Supreme Court and superintendent of schools. 'It's my feeling, and it's a feeling of most people, that you don't legislate via changing the constitution,' Rep. Lee Snodgrass (D-Appleton) said at a March 17 panel on the referendum. 'I think that there is pretty wide evidence that this is hitting the ballots for political reasons. I think that the majority party is afraid of what happens if we get into the majority and if we decide that existing law needs to be amended or changed or overturned entirely.' Snodgrass added that 'we are essentially wasting everybody's time by adding this to the ballot. And I think we've had five of these now already. So it's a pattern, and it's politically motivated.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
27-02-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Medication Abortion Is Still the Most Common Type
An abortion rights activist holds a box of mifepristone during a rally in front of the U.S. Supreme Court on March 26, 2024, in Washington, D.C. Credit - Drew Angerer—AFP/Getty Image New data reveal that the majority of abortions that were provided in most states in 2023 were medication abortions—a pattern that reproductive health experts say underscores the need to protect access to abortion pills. The Guttmacher Institute, which researches and supports sexual and reproductive health and rights, released on Feb. 27 an analysis of state-level data on medication abortion in 2023. Guttmacher researchers had previously found that medication abortions accounted for 63% of all abortions provided by clinicians in 2023 in states without the most restrictive policies—most states, in other words—and the data released on Thursday expanded on that finding by breaking that number down by state. A full 95% of abortions performed in Wyoming were medication abortions, and 84% of abortions in Montana were. Lowest were Washington, D.C., at 44%, and Ohio, at 46%, according to the report. Researchers also looked at how women were receiving medication abortion: whether through prescriptions from in-person clinics or via telemedicine. In states without near-total abortion bans or bans on telemedicine provision, about 10% of abortions in 2023 were provided by online-only clinics, ranging from 7% in states like New York and California to as high as 60% in Wyoming. 'What these data are telling us is that medication abortion is a critical option for folks in most states without total abortion bans, and we're also seeing that in some states, telemedicine is playing a pretty major role,' says Isabel DoCampo, senior research associate at the Guttmacher Institute and one of the lead authors of the analysis. 'What this communicates is that lawmakers shouldn't support efforts to curtail medication abortion or telemedicine access for medication abortion, and that these options need to be expanded. Medication abortion is an option with high demand, with high need in most states without total abortion bans, and access to medication abortion via any means shouldn't be restricted.' The two-drug regimen of mifepristone and misoprostol is the most common medication abortion method that U.S. providers offer. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved mifepristone to be used for abortions more than 20 years ago, and years of research have found the drug to be both safe and effective. But recently, mifepristone has faced attacks from anti-abortion activists and some politicians, including through court challenges. Read More: How the Biden Administration Protected Abortion Pill Access—and What Trump Could Do Next The analysis published on Thursday is part of the Guttmacher Institute's Monthly Abortion Provision Study, an ongoing project that shares monthly estimates of abortions provided by clinicians in states without near-total bans. Researchers survey providers and use a statistical model to estimate data. The project started when the Guttmacher Institute saw a 'need for more frequent data collection and more frequent reporting' in an era of quickly changing policies on abortion, after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, DoCampo says. The research team focused on abortions provided at both brick-and-mortar facilities and online-only providers in states that didn't have near-total abortion bans in 2023. DoCampo says one of the reasons the team decided not to include states with near-total bans was to protect providers' confidentiality. Some abortion shield laws offer protections for providers prescribing abortion pills via telemedicine and sending them to patients in states with bans or restrictions, but New York's law is currently being tested through two legal challenges in Louisiana and Texas. Read More: What Are Abortion Shield Laws? Because the team didn't include data from states with near-total bans or include self-managed abortions, DoCampo says, 'If we're thinking about all abortions occurring in the U.S., our numbers reflecting medication abortion provision are likely an undercount, and medication abortion likely plays an even greater role in the U.S. abortion access landscape.' The data also show that even states that have many different characteristics have similar proportions of medication abortion provision. For instance, Wyoming is a rural state with low population density and, at the time, it had a near-total ban on abortion and a first-of-its-kind ban on medication abortion. (Wyoming's abortion bans were later blocked.) Delaware, meanwhile, has a higher population density and protective abortion policies. But in both states, medication abortion accounts for a high proportion of abortions. 'It's likely that there's a constellation of factors at the state level' influencing the proportion of medication abortion, DoCampo says, such as abortion policies, insurance reimbursement rates for medication vs. procedural abortion, and the number of clinics operating in the state. Ushma Upadhyay—a professor in the department of obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive sciences at the University of California, San Francisco and a member of the university's Advancing New Standards in Reproductive Health program—was not affiliated with the Guttmacher Institute's research and says she was 'delighted' to see this data breakdown by state. With so much variation in factors like abortion policy and insurance coverage, which all impact abortion access and preferences, this type of data is 'incredibly valuable,' she says. 'These rates show that restrictions are ineffective; when it comes to abortion, people are going to do what they need to to access abortion care,' Upadhyay says. 'I think that this is exactly why anti-abortion activists are coming after medication abortion—they can see that people are able to access it, there's more and more research that it is safe and effective, [and] patients enjoy the level of autonomy that it provides them.' Upadhyay says she thought the team's methodology was 'very strong.' But she wishes the report discussed in greater detail the role that insurance plays in this area, and agrees that the data were likely undercounting the prevalence of medication abortion because states with near-total abortion bans weren't included in the analysis. Some of the states the Guttmacher team looked at have abortion restrictions, such as Georgia, Florida, and Iowa, which all ban abortion after about six weeks of pregnancy. Upadhyay notes that some of those states had high proportions of medication abortion, including Georgia at 83%. 'That is a perfect illustration of the power that medication abortion has; it's across the country,' she says. 'People are accessing it more and more, and they're able to use it despite the increasing number of restrictions in states.' Contact us at letters@
