In 2011 the Texas state legislature cut $111 million from the state’s family-planning budget which was distributed by the Texas Department of State Health Services. The cuts resulted in the closure of over 60 health clinics that primarily serviced low-income women and families.
The federal government announced yesterday that it would bypass the state government and provide Title X funds directly to the Women’s Health and Family Planning Association of Texas which, according to the Texas Observer, will be used to “distribute to clinics for birth control, wellness exams, STD screenings and other family-planning services.”
Title X will help pay for family-planning services at these struggling clinics. But the grant provides more than money. Unlike other funding streams, the Title X grant allows providers to cast privacy protection over all of their clients. This is especially important for teens that would otherwise need parental consent to access birth control. The Title X grant also allows clinics to buy pharmaceutical drugs at a steep discount, and gives them the flexibility to invest in staff and infrastructure.
The Texas Department of State Health Services had sponsored 40 providers through Title X that operated a total of 122 clinics. Beginning next month, Hagerty’s coalition [the Women’s Health and Family Planning Association of Texas] will distribute the Title X money to 34 contractors—including Planned Parenthood—operating 121 clinics across the state.
This a good example of measures the Obama administration takes on a regular basis to do whatever it can to provide for people that state governments have forsaken or chosen not to care about. It’s also ironic in that malfeasance on the part of the state government has allowed the federal government to assume more control over healthcare in the state.
The federal government will also be operating the health insurance exchange under Obamacare in the state of Texas because Rick Perry refused to create one.
States’ rights.