Tong Slams Domestic ​“Gag Rule”

Connecticut Attorney General William Tong has joined 20 fellow AGs from throughout the country in a lawsuit vying to protect tens of millions of dollars of annual federal funding for Planned Parenthood.

The lawsuit, which was filed in March in the U.S. District Court in Eugene, Oregon, challenges the constitutionality of the Trump Administration’s Title X ​“domestic gag rule.” Tong came to New Haven Tuesday morning to discuss the lawsuit and his opposition to the restrictive federal policy in a forum held at the Planned Parenthood of Southern New England’s (PPSNE) headquarters at 345 Whitney Ave.

That gag rule, imposed by Trump officials earlier this year, makes it illegal for health care providers in the Title X program to refer patients for an abortion.

The ruling requires there be a physical and financial separation between facilities that perform abortions and recipients of Title X funds.

This means Planned Parenthood, the largest single recipient of such federal funding, will lose $60 million per year nationally and $2.1 million per year for 12 health centers in Connecticut and Rhode Island. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals most recently issued a preliminary injunction on the gag rule on July 3.

On Tuesday morning, Tong joined PPSNE President and CEO Amanda Skinner for a town hall to voice their collective opposition to the Trump administration’s restrictive policies on reproductive healthcare and abortion.

In 2018, PPSNE provided care for 41,241 Title X patients at 11 health centers across Connecticut, Skinner said. Sixty four percent of those served were at or below 150 percent of the federal poverty level. In total, over four million people rely on funding from the Title X program nationwide, she said. Without that funding, many patients will lose access to free or low-cost care for such services as birth control, Sexually Transmitted Infection (STI) testing, and cancer screenings.

Skinner said Planned Parenthood of Southern New England ​“has a comprehensive plan in place” for any outcome regarding the Title X funding. The organization is currently, and will continue to draw on emergency funds and donations. Skinner said ​“our doors will stay open.”

While Skinner said she did not want to ​“predict any outcomes” from the lawsuit, she said if some Planned Parenthood centers have to close their doors, ​“it would be hard to imagine that community healthcare centers could absorb all the necessary care.” She said this would impact low income families in cities like New Haven the most. ​“If [Planned Parenthood’s] clinics are forced to withdraw from Title X,” she said, ​“other health care providers in Connecticut would need to triple their reproductive care client caseloads to meet the demand.”

Title X already does not cover abortion services, Skinner said. ​“The Trump gag rule was designed intentionally to take funding away from Planned Parenthood because we provide abortion care.” Skinner said the gag rule is also ​“a cruel, direct attack on anyone who cannot afford the rising costs of healthcare.”

“This gag rule reeks of a regressive society, one in which the government stands between an individual and their healthcare provider.” Skinner said they will continue to fight back because ​“this is a public health issue, an economic issue, and a justice issue.”

Connecticut is Fighting Back

“If you asked me in 2006, ​‘William are you pro-choice?’” Tong said, ​“I would’ve said, ​‘Of course I am,’ and I didn’t think much of it. Many of us felt like we didn’t have to think much of it, and there was a great deal of complacency. We felt secure in the freedoms and the promises of Roe and the Supreme Court.”

Tong said this complacency continued until he attended a Planned Parenthood rally against Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh on the steps of the New Haven courthouse in January.

At the rally, he heard PPSNE Director of Public Policy, Advocacy, and Strategic Engagement Gretchen Raffa speak. ​“I remember seeing tears streaming down her face,” he said. ​“They were not tears of sorrow or tears of self-pity, but tears of rage, and fury and strength. And that’s when I realized that I needed to not be hesitant, or unsure about why I was there.”

In addition to opposing the Title X gag rule, he said, Connecticut is a member of a coalition of 23 cities, states, and municipalities suing the federal government over the ​“provider conscience” rule. The new rule allows individuals and businesses to refuse to provide certain healthcare based on ​“religious beliefs” or ​“moral convictions.”

Connecticut is also part of a multi-state coalition defending the Affordable Care Act, which the Trump administration said should be entirely struck down. With 12 other states, Connecticut is fighting new Exemption Rules for the Affordable Care Act Contraceptive Mandate which could allow employers to deny contraceptive coverage for female employees. ​“These new Exemption Rules harm women’s health,” he said, ​“diminish their economic security and needlessly deny them full and equal access to healthcare benefits.”

Regarding Connecticut’s response to the Title X gag rule, the ​“provider conscience” rule, and attacks on the Affordable Care Act, Tong said, ​“We’re fighting not just for dignity, human rights, or liberty, but we’re fighting for our lives and the lives of millions of American women, men, children, and families that depend on Planned Parenthood and Title X for healthcare and for life.”

Senators Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy sent a letter to the Department of Health and Human Services on Friday with 40 other Democratic senators slamming the Title X gag rule.