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Excerpt from the full fact sheet:
What services does the Title X family-planning program provide?
- Title X provides voluntary, confidential reproductive-health services, including educational services and nondirective counseling on abstinence and contraceptive methods.
- Federal law prohibits any Title X money from being used for abortion care.
- Besides providing contraceptive methods, counseling and education, Title X family-planning clinics offer many other reproductive-health services, including: screening for breast cancer, cervical cancer, and sexually transmitted diseases; Pap tests; breast and pelvic exams; hypertension and blood pressure measurement; as well as prenatal, postpartum and well-baby care.
- The Title X program also sponsors continuing-education programs for family-planning clinicians each year. In addition, the program maintains a clearinghouse for information and educational materials on family planning and reproductive health, and supports a research program which focuses on family-planning service delivery improvements.
Who receives care at Title X clinics?
- Each year, approximately 5 million young and low-income women and men receive basic health care through the 4,400 clinics nationwide receiving Title X funds.
- Most Title X patients are low-income women who are uninsured and ineligible for Medicaid. No one can be refused services based on their inability to pay. Women with income at or below the poverty level receive fully subsidized services; women with income over 100 but less than 250 percent of the poverty level are charged on a sliding scale; and women with income over 250 percent of poverty must be charged full fees.
- For many women, particularly those who cannot afford private health insurance and who do not qualify for Medicaid, Title X clinics provide their only source of basic health care.
Access to contraceptive services is central to improving women's overall health and reducing unintended pregnancy.
The Title X program has many aditional benefits:
- Publicly funded contraceptive services significantly reduce pregnancy and abortion among young people.
- Title X helps prevent the spread of STDs, as some funds are used to perform vital STD screening and treatment.
- It helps women deliver healthier babies by helping women plan their pregnancies.
- It positively affects women's lives and saves taxpayer dollars: A socially responsible and fiscally sound reproductive-health-care policy requires that affordable, safe and effective contraceptive care be available. Every government dollar spent on contraceptive services saves an average of $3.80 in Medicaid costs for newborn- and pregnancy-related care.
By providing women access to family-planning services, Title X gives women real choices over their reproductive lives, providing a realistic and effective mechanism to reduce unintended pregnancy and make abortion less necessary. However, anti-choice lawmakers in Congress have repeatedly attempted to defund the program and restrict minors' access. Furthermore, under anti-choice control for 12 years, Congress chronically failed to provide adequate funding levels for Title X. Had the program simply kept pace with inflation since 1980, earning no other increases, it would now be funded at more than $700 million; instead, it is funded at $305 million.
Download the fact sheet (PDF) |
