Husna Rahim and Louise Sale

PHAR 121G Healthcare Systems

21 August 2019

Why are Republicans Taking Away Birth Control? Because They Don’t Want Women to Have it?
[Internet]. August 19, 2019. Available from: https://www.salon.com/2019/08/20/why-are-
republicans-taking-away-birth-control-because-they-dont-want-women-to-have-it/

In this article, the author asserts that the changes being implemented to the provisions for

Title X funding are an attemp by the Trump administration to create barriers for women to access

preventative care and abortions. Originally Title X was a program created to provide lower-income

women access to preventative health services. Abortion, however, has never been a service that

Title X funds, but is being used as a pawn to push this political agenda for stripping Title X funding

by garnering the support of pro-life activists. As a results of these provision changes, Planned

Parenthood has decided to give up federal funding, which accounted for $60 million. The article

presumes that republicans are making strategic attempts to ultimately banish birth control access

to women for the sole purpose of reducing women’s rights.

While the author makes some interesting points, the assumption that Title X funds are being

stripped by the republican administration simply because they don't want women to have rights is

unfounded. Additionally, the likelihood of birth control being taken away from women all-together

is incredibly low given that it is used for treatment of a variety of ailments such as irregular

menstrual cycle. The loss of funding by Planned Parenthood more likely points to the elimination of

abortion practices than that of birth control. This fact is supported by the recent passing of the

Heartbeat Bill in several states--which criminalizes abortions after six weeks of pregnancy--and the

possibility of overturning Roe v. Wade in the supreme court.