By: Halie Holland

The Trump administration has just announced new changes to Title X, which could impact millions of Americans. Title X has been vital to low-income women’s access to family-planning resources. Planned Parenthood and other providers say that the regulation will leave women without access to basic information about their reproductive health choices. But why is this such a big deal?

Planned Parenthood says 41 percent of the patients it sees rescue family planning services under Title X. This change to Title X is known to reproductive rights advocates as the “domestic gag rule.” It blocks Planned Parenthood and other providers that perform abortions or offer abortion referrals from receiving funding under Title X. This is a violation of basic human rights. Medical providers like Planned Parenthood are there for women to access birth control, cancer screenings, STD tests, and more. Without Title X, people are stripped of their human right to check up on their bodies and find out what’s best for them in regards to not just their reproductive health but overall well-being.

It is such an issue that it prompted Planned Parenthood and the American Medical Association to sue to challenge the rule.

Dr. Leana Wen, president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, said in a statement to the media in February that “The gag rule is unconscionable and unethical… compromis[ing] the oath that [she] took to serve patients and help them with making the best decision for their own health.”

The gag rule will begin after a 60-day public notice period, which will give little time for people to seek an order to block its effect. If the rule goes through, clinics will have only a year to separate Title X resources from its facilities that perform abortions or provide abortion referrals.