Attorney General T.J. Donovan held a press conference today with Planned Parenthood of Northern New England to rally voices against changes to Title X that would deal a blow to abortion rights across the country. Donovan spoke along with president and CEO of PPNNE, Meagan Gallagher. Both discussed the importance of Title X funding from the federal government, which makes up 40 percent of Planned Parenthood's funding.
The proposed changes to Title X would withhold funding from health care providers if they talk to their patients about abortion or refer them to another facility for an abortion.
"For nearly two decades, Title X law has been clear; healthcare providers cannot withhold information from patients about their pregnancy options," Gallagher said. "This rule means they can."
Law requires that before changing Title X, the federal government must solicit comments from constituents, a fact that the attorney general wants Vermonters to take advantage of.
"We're here to raise our voices," said Donovan, "and to ask Vermonters who care about health care, who care about access to health care, who care about poor people's access to health care, who care about dignity, who care about respect, to raise their voice too and to comment and to appose these rule changes."
Donovan said Vermonters can go to his office's website to express their thoughts about the changes to Title X. The deadline to comment is July 31.
Correction 7/19/2018 8:23 a.m. A previous version of this post misspelled Meagan Gallagher's last name. It has been corrected.
