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Blumenthal Speaks Out Against House Bills That Aim to Curb Women’s Health Care Access

Senator Highlights Importance of Title X Funds to Connecticut Women

(Washington, DC) – Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) joined Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR), and Senator Al Franken (D-MN) for a press conference today to highlight the distressing effects that Republican legislation in the House of Representatives would have on health care choices for women in Connecticut and across the country.

“These dangerous pieces of legislation in the House to defund both the Title X Family Planning Program and Planned Parenthood would be devastating to millions of women, teens, and families who rely on community health clinics for vital basic health care services including cancer screenings, annual health exams, and preventative services such as HIV testing,” said Blumenthal. “In Connecticut alone, Planned Parenthood cares for tens of thousands of patients each year, and an elimination of Title X funding would leave these women with nowhere to turn. Just today, Connecticut Governor Dannel Malloy and Lieutenant Governor Nancy Wyman sent a letter to Speaker John Boehner outlining just how harmful eliminating Title X funding would be to our state, and I encourage other state governors to add their voices to this fight.”

Blumenthal was joined at the press conference by Planned Parenthood Federation of American President Cecile Richards, Francisca Farkas, a Connecticut native who turned to Planned Parenthood for basic health care services as a student and when she did not have health insurance through her employer, and Elizabeth Steele, a Planned Parenthood patient whose leukemia was detected during a regular visit to her local clinic.

“At a time when people in Connecticut and across America have made it clear that they want Congress to focus on economic growth and job creation, we cannot allow the House Republicans to reignite the culture wars and distract from the task at hand,” continued Blumenthal. “I join my Senate colleagues in opposing these measures and making sure that we do not allow this extreme legislation to deny basic health care to millions of women across America.”

Planned Parenthood cares for nearly 63,000 patients in Connecticut, 33% of whom are on Medicaid. Each year, Planned Parenthood doctors and nurses across the country provide nearly one million lifesaving screenings for cervical cancer and 830,000 breast exams, and its health centers also provide contraception to nearly 2.5 million patients and nearly 4 million tests and treatments for sexually transmitted infections, including HIV.

The Title X Family Planning program was enacted in 1970 by President Richard Nixon. Title X is the only federal grant program dedicated solely to providing individuals with comprehensive family planning and related preventive health services and is designed to provide access to contraceptive services, supplies and information to those who want and need them.

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