Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum co-led 21 state attorneys general in suing the Trump administration on March 5, 2019. The suit challenged the Title X gag rule, which controls federal money for low-income family planning care, as unconstitutional and unlawful.
According to the New York Attorney General, the states filed in U.S. District Court in Eugene, Oregon, as described in the March 5 filing announcement. The case sought a court order blocking the rule, not payments to patients.
Table of Contents
- What the rule required
- Who relied on Title X care
- What the Oregon court did
- What this means if you use Title X care
What the rule required
According to the National Catholic Register, the challenged rule barred taxpayer-funded Title X clinics from referring patients for abortion. It also required physical and financial separation between Title X recipients and facilities performing abortions.
In practical terms, a clinic could not use Title X funds and also provide abortion referrals. It could not share money or facilities with abortion services unless they were kept separate.
Who relied on Title X care
According to the Massachusetts Attorney General Healey release, the states said the limits threatened millions of low-income women and families using Title X. Those patients relied on Title X clinics for basic preventive care, including: According to Reuters, Planned Parenthood received about $60 million annually, about one-fifth of Title X funds. It faced losing funds or withdrawing, which threatened safety-net clinics serving uninsured and low-income patients.
- birth control
- STD testing
- cancer screenings
- complete reproductive-health information
What the Oregon court did
According to the Catholic News Agency, U.S. District Judge Michael J. McShane granted a nationwide preliminary injunction on April 29-30, 2019, as described in the Oregon ruling report. The order blocked the rule from taking effect while the states' case moved forward.
A preliminary injunction is a temporary hold. It preserves the prior rules during litigation and does not decide the final merits. According to Reuters, the hold did not last, as described in the appeals-court report. In February 2020, the 9th Circuit voted 7-4 to lift injunctions won by Oregon, California and Washington, allowing enforcement.
What this means if you use Title X care
According to the Oregon Health Authority, Oregon suspended use of federal Title X funds and then ended nearly 50 years of participation rather than impose the gag rule, as explained in its Title X update. The state acted after federal officials set a compliance-or-termination deadline.
There is no claim form tied to this lawsuit. If you rely on a Title X clinic, call before a visit and ask about current funding and low-cost options. If your clinic left Title X, ask what visit, test, and birth-control costs apply without it.
You Might Also Like
- Wyoming receives $13 million from Meta settlement over youth safety
- Montana Wins Settlement From Meta Over Youth Mental Health Harms
- Meta settles with Delaware for $73.6 million over child online safety