Pappas Helps Introduce Bill to Protect and Expand Access to Life-Saving Reproductive Health Care Services

Today Congressman Chris Pappas (NH-01) helped introduce the Expanding Access to Family Planning Act. This legislation would safeguard and increase funding for Title X — the nation’s only federal program dedicated to providing comprehensive family planning and preventive health services.

For more than 50 years, Title X has provided critical health care services, including birth control, cancer screenings, annual exams, and testing for sexually transmitted infections (STIs). Title X clinics serve 4 million people annually, and in 2023 alone, more than 1.5 million visits to Planned Parenthood health centers were made possible by the program. But that care is under threat, as the Trump administration continues its attacks on this critical program. 

“In New Hampshire and across the country, Planned Parenthood and other family planning providers offer lifesaving care under Title X, including annual exams, cancer screenings, and STI testing. This administration has chosen to put their own extreme political views over the health and well-being of millions of Americans,” said Congressman Pappas. “That’s why I’m helping introduce legislation to safeguard and support Title X for the thousands of Granite Staters who depend on it. I’ll keep fighting to pass this legislation and continue standing up for access to health care and reproductive rights.”

The need for the Expanding Access to Family Planning Act comes as the Trump administration has recently frozen millions of dollars in already-appropriated Title X funding, impacting 16 organizations across several states, including New Hampshire. Planned Parenthood affiliates have lost access to as much as $3 million annually — resources they rely on to serve tens of thousands of patients each year. According to the Guttmacher Institute, the freeze could impact access to care for up to 1.25 million people, many of whom are low-income, people of color, or live in medically underserved communities.  

The Expanding Access to Family Planning Act would:

• Guarantee stable, annual funding for Title X, preventing repeated Republican-led efforts to eliminate the program.
  • The bill would provide $512 million annually for 10 years, addressing the current funding shortfall and ensuring access to essential services.
  • It also allocates $50 million in mandatory funding for clinic construction, renovations, and infrastructure improvements.
• Protect family planning providers, including Planned Parenthood, from being excluded, as seen under the Trump Administration’s so-called “domestic gag rule.”
  • The bill would reinstate regulations prohibiting discrimination against providers who offer Title X services, ensuring continuity of care for patients.
• Ensure access to comprehensive, affordable reproductive health care for all patients, regardless of income, race, immigration status, or gender.
  • This includes information and services related to prenatal care, delivery, infant care, foster care, adoption, and pregnancy termination — unless a patient opts out of receiving information on certain options.

Pappas, alongside the New Hampshire delegation, condemned the Trump administration’s freeze on federal funding for life-saving reproductive health care services, including those provided by Planned Parenthood of Northern New England (PPNNE). Last week Pappas joined more than 160 House Democrats in urging U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to immediately restore all appropriated Title X funding. The letter also called for an urgent meeting with impacted providers to ensure that care is not disrupted. 

Last year Pappas and U.S. Senators Shaheen and Hassan joined PPNNE to highlight the impact abortion bans and efforts to limit access to medication abortion have had in New Hampshire since Roe v. Wade was overturned. The delegation has pushed for Title X funding, and following obstruction from Republicans on New Hampshire’s Executive Council, the delegation helped secure critical Title X funding for PPNNE.

The Expanding Access to Family Planning Act is endorsed by a wide coalition of public health and reproductive rights organizations, including Guttmacher Institute, National Family Planning & Reproductive Health Association, National Women’s Law Center, National Council of Jewish Women, Physicians for Reproductive Health, Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Power to Decide, Reproductive Freedom for All, and Upstream USA.