Governor Mills Statement Regarding Trump Administration Title X Gag Rule

Press Release

Governor Janet Mills issued the following statement today in response to an announcement that the Trump Administration has formally issued a "domestic gag" rule designed to target Title X funding which ensures more than four million low-income Americans can access essential reproductive health care:

"Every woman should be able to access reproductive health care when and where she needs it. The Trump Administration's gag rule is backward policy that will silence health care providers, withhold vital medical information from patients, and prevent women from getting the basic health care they need," said Governor Janet Mills. "I will work with Attorney General Frey, Department of Health and Human Services Commissioner Jeanne Lambrew, and the Legislature to determine what we can do at the state level to protect the health care of Maine women."

Last year, then-Attorney General Mills joined states across the country in a lawsuit attempting to block the Trump Administration from making these sudden and harmful changes to Title X.

The Title X Family Planning Program, officially known as Public Law 91-572 or "Population Research and Voluntary Family Planning Programs," was first enacted with bipartisan support by President Richard Nixon in 1970 to ensure women in underserved areas had access to health care. More than four million low-income Americans, including 22,000 people in Maine, rely on the Title X program to access birth control, STI testing, cancer screenings and other essential reproductive health care.

The gag rule makes it illegal for health care providers in the Title X program to refer patients for an abortion. The gag rule also includes "physical separation" requirements designed to deter patients from visiting organizations like Planned Parenthood for care. Requirements range from the construction of separate entrances and exits to entirely new health centers and the hiring of separate doctors and staff. These high cost "physical separation" requirements could force organizations like Planned Parenthood into withdrawing from the Title X program all together.

In Maine, Title X supports health care providers throughout the state including Planned Parenthood of Northern New England, Maine Family Planning and several federally qualified health centers. Approximately $2 million in Title X funds are now in jeopardy under the gag rule.

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