FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
07.15.19
Contact: Alexa Barrett, Communications Assistant
Email: alexa@equityfwd.org
Phone: (914) 602 - 3147
New Health Policy Agenda Safeguards Against HHS Attacks
Reproductive health blueprint outlines policy goals to protect widespread access to care
New York, NY – Today, Equity Forward, along with a coalition of nearly 80 other organizations, released a new forward-looking policy agenda that promotes access to comprehensive, quality health care and safeguards against attacks by administration officials hostile to reproductive rights.
“The Blueprint for Sexual and Reproductive Health, Rights, and Justice” outlines several goals that specifically address protecting people’s care when it comes to the Department of Health and Human Services, including:
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Enforcing Obamacare protections for patients — particularly for those who are LGBTQ, single parents or have had abortions — to whom physicians and other health care workers might refuse care on religious or “moral” grounds;
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Reaffirming that all organizations receiving federal grant money from Title X, the nation’s family planning program, will offer comprehensive care — including a broad range of birth control options; and
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Protecting physicians’ abilities to discuss and counsel on the full range of health care options, including abortion, with patients.
Mary Alice Carter, senior advisor to Equity Forward, released the following statement on the Blueprint:
“The nation’s health department should protect everyone’s access to care. But Trump and Sec. Alex Azar have made unprecedented efforts to dismantle health care protections at every turn. The Blueprint is a comprehensive and important step toward protecting every person’s right to quality, holistic health care. No matter who sits in the Oval Office, this document can serve as a guide for lawmakers who want to support and defend the well-being of people in America, especially those who this administration has consistently targeted and marginalized.”
The full Blueprint is available at reproblueprint.org.
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Equity Forward is a watchdog organization that works to ensure transparency and accountability among anti-reproductive health groups and individuals.