Statement of The Very Reverend Katherine Ragsdale, Interim President and CEO of the National Abortion Federation (NAF) on the Trump Administration’s release of the final anti-abortion Title X rule:
We believe that all forms of reproductive health care, including abortion care, should not only be legal, but also safe and accessible. Any attempt to reduce access to comprehensive reproductive health care simply to score political points with anti-abortion extremists is unacceptable.
The Department of Health and Human Services has previously tried to justify these changes to Title X as a step toward closing “gaps in service,” when the changes do the opposite. The Proposed Rule would erect undue barriers to providing and accessing comprehensive reproductive health care, creating even larger gaps in service—especially for low income women, women of color, and the LGBTQ community.
It is unfathomable that anyone would want to prevent health care providers from giving their patients referrals to other safe, quality health care providers. This is another clear sign that President Trump and his administration would rather bow to anti-abortion extremists than ensure people in America have access to the quality health care they need.
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Read about the anti-abortion extremist employed by HHS
The National Abortion Federation (NAF) is the professional association of abortion providers. Our members include individuals, private and non-profit clinics, Planned Parenthood affiliates, women’s health centers, physicians’ offices, and hospitals who together care for approximately half the women who choose abortion in the U.S. and Canada each year. Our members also include public hospitals and both public and private clinics in Mexico City and private clinics in Colombia. Our mission is to ensure safe, legal, and accessible abortion care, which promotes health and justice for women.