STATEMENT ON SENATE APPROPRIATIONS BILL

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) - Today, the Senate Appropriations Committee voted 25-3 to approve its version of the Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies (LHHS) appropriations bill. The bipartisan bill maintains level funding for key programs that provide information and access to reproductive health care.

The bill provides $286.5 million for the Title X family Planning Program and $101 million for the Teen Pregnancy Prevention (TPP) Program. It also includes the harmful Hyde amendment, which bars federal Medicaid dollars from covering abortion care. In contrast, the U.S. House Appropriations Committee advanced a bill earlier this month that eliminates the Title X and the TPP Program while adding new extreme policy riders that would severely harm the reproductive well-being of communities across the country.

Power to Decide CEO Raegan McDonald-Mosley, MD, MPH, issued the following statement in response:

"Power to Decide appreciates the Senate Appropriations Committee's bipartisan recognition of the critical role of publicly funded family planning services and evidence-based sexual health education, and our Senate champions who fight hard for reproductive health care access. However, as many people across the nation continue to encounter increasing barriers, this bill also fails to meet the needs of our communities and maintains harmful restrictions which put abortion care further out of reach.

"As a practicing OB-GYN, I see firsthand that access to the full range of reproductive health services is essential for the well-being of my patients, their families and their communities. Everyone - no matter who they are or where they live - should have the resources and power to decide if, when and under what circumstances to get pregnant and have a child.

"As we mark two years since the Dobbs decision, and continued attempts to eliminate pivotal reproductive health programs and services, status quo funding and restrictions only continue to exacerbate health disparities. We call on Congress to do far more to address the needs of our communities so everyone can achieve reproductive well-being."

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Power to Decide is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that works to advance sexual and reproductive well-being for all by providing trusted information, expanding access to quality services, and catalyzing culture change.