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Millions of Americans lack health insurance. For many of them, federally subsidized family-planning services are the only source of health care.
The importance of family-planning services
A federal program called Title X (or "ten," so named after a section of law) is the nation's cornerstone family-planning program. It provides women with an array of reproductive-health services: birth control, screening and treatment for sexually transmitted diseases, screening for breast cancer and hypertension, prenatal care, postpartum counseling and well-baby care, among others. (Title X does not pay for abortion services.)
These services are essential for women who could not otherwise afford medical care.
Threats to family-planning services
Despite widespread public support and the importance of these services to American women and their families, anti-choice politicians have starved the program for funding and attacked it politically at every turn.
Read our fact sheets to learn more about family-planning services and how they are being threatened:
Family planning overseas
With a very small investment, the United States could make a huge positive impact on poor women's lives overseas. In particular, two agencies - the United Nations Population Fund and the U.S. Agency for International Development - can do a tremendous amount to help couples plan their families and avoid unintended pregnancy. Unfortunately, President Bush has canceled funding altogether for the United Nations Population Fund, and crippled the USAID family-planning program by imposing the global gag rule on overseas health clinics. Through these actions, we are not only missing enormous opportunities to help developing countries, we are hampering democracy and shirking our neighborly responsibilities. Read more about these on our fact sheets:
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