Sen. Tina Smith, Former MN Planned Parenthood Exec, Says Proposed Trump Reproductive Health Rule An “Affront to Women”

WASHINGTON, D.C. [05/22/18]—Today, U.S. Sen. Tina Smith released the following statement on President Trump’s proposal to place restrictions on federal family planning money, which would bar health care providers participating in the Title X program from exploring all of a woman’s health care options with patients in Minnesota and across the nation.

“This proposed rule is an affront to women. Family planning is key to women’s economic opportunity, and I trust women and families to make their own decisions about their reproductive health care. Deciding whether or when to start a family has a big impact on other important life choices, like whether to take a job or go back to school. But in order to decide what is best for their lives and their families, women need accurate and complete information about their health care options. The Trump Administration’s move to change the Title X family planning program would limit the ability of doctors, nurses, hospitals, and community health centers to have honest conversations with their patients or to refer them for comprehensive reproductive health care. This extreme proposal would impact more than 50,000 Minnesotans who rely on Planned Parenthood for high quality and affordable reproductive health care, including 25,000 Planned Parenthood patients who are served by the Title X program in Minnesota. Not only does this threaten the preventive health care that people in our state rely on to live healthy lives, it violates something I deeply respect—the ability of each woman to make informed decisions about her health care.”

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