A group of state lawmakers and maternal health advocates joined Lieutenant Governor Susan Bysiewicz and Connecticut U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal in Hartford this morning to demand that federal government officials reverse recently announced $1.8 million in budget cuts to Planned Parenthood in Southern New England (PPSNE).

On April 1st, PPSNE announced that they had received notice from the Department of Health and Human Services that their annual Title X funding would be withheld. PPSNE is one of nine Planned Parenthood affiliates across the country who received similar notices on March 31st. Per Planned Parenthood, over three-quarters of Planned Parenthood’s affiliates receive funding through Title X, the nation’s only federal grant program to disburse funds for the purpose of family planning and preventive health services, primarily to low-income and uninsured citizens.

Earlier this month, TIME reported that an HHS spokesperson said the notices were issued on the grounds of “possible violations” of federal civil rights law and Trump’s Anti-DEI Executive Order, which was issued in January. Critics of the administration, however, have vocalized their belief that this is just another thinly-veiled excuse to defund and dissolve Planned Parenthood.

“Let’s not sugarcoat this,” said Bysiewicz. “This is Trump’s attempt to attack Planned Parenthood, as well as the 41,000 people that go to Planned Parenthood every year to get basic health care.”

PPSNE operates 15 clinics, 14 in Connecticut and one in Rhode Island, and as many speakers repeated today, serves approximately 41,000 people across the region. In addition to abortion services, which as of 2019 can not be legally reimbursed by Title X funding, PPSNE provides STD screening and treatment, vaccinations, cancer screenings, pregnancy tests and counseling, and various birth control measures.

Bysiewicz said that Title X cuts would “deepen the inequities” in health coverage already present in Connecticut and that she and other officials would not “sit by and watch this vital funding be taken away.” Bysiewicz noted that these cuts, in conjunction with the $150 million in federal cuts to the state’s Department of Public Health announced around the same time, represent “a theme.”

Gretchen Raffa, PPSNE’s Chief Policy and Advocacy Officer, said that the cuts represent a willingness by the Trump administration to advance an anti-abortion political agenda over the healthcare needs of the country’s citizens. Raffa said that this decision shows the administration would prioritize shutting down Planned Parenthood “by any means necessary.”

“The Trump administration and Elon Musk don’t care about the people these cuts are going to harm and the devastation that this is going to cause,” said Raffa. “They are putting their dangerous political agenda, using patients as political pawns, to defund Planned Parenthood, which will only worsen the public health crisis that they’ve created.”

Raffa noted that Title X funding can not be used for the provision of abortion, and claimed that one in three women across the country have accessed Planned Parenthood’s services at least once in their lives. She described the care as “basic healthcare services” that are “not optional, not political,” but “essential care.”

“Title X program does not pay for abortion care, but that has not stopped anti-abortion politicians from trying to dismantle the entire program,” said Raffa. “Their motivations are clear, and they are not about the health and safety of people. Attacking the basic health care of millions of people, that millions of people rely on, is dangerous and it is wrong.”

Blumenthal hammered the same fact, saying that “not a single dollar, not a dime,” of Title X funding goes towards the provision of abortions. Blumenthal described Connecticut as “proudly and unequivocally” pro-choice, and described Title X funding as “just good sense,” as preventative care helps to detect diseases earlier, when they’re less expensive to treat.

“Here’s a message to Elon Musk, if you’re really serious about saving money, make sure that Title X is fully funded, because it is preventative,” said Blumenthal. “It helps to stop the kinds of illnesses and diseases that can cost more if they’re not prevented.” 

Blumenthal said “we know” that stopping Title X funding is not about money but is rather part of an “ideological assault on women’s health.” He noted that he had already signed off on a letter to HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy and that he would return to Washington to continue to advocate for the Expanding Access to Family Planning Act, which would nearly double the currently allocated funding to Title X.

Additional speakers included Representatives Jillian Gilchrest (D-West Hartford) and Matthew Blumenthal (D-Stamford), co-chairs of the state’s Reproductive Rights Caucus, and Liz Gustafson, Connecticut’s State Director for Reproductive Equity Now.  In addition to speaking out against the cuts, all three also spoke in favor of increasing the state’s Medicaid reimbursement rates, which help to cover the cost of services for healthcare providers who routinely serve low-income patients, such as Planned Parenthood. This idea was supported by Raffa as well.

Gilchrest, who is also co-chair of the state’s Human Services Committee, noted that one of their biggest proposals this session is a bill that would raise the state’s Medicaid reimbursement rates over the next three years. She noted it as one way that the state can “help step up” to federal funding cuts.

“We need to increase those Medicaid rates to ensure that Planned Parenthood can continue to operate strongly in the state of Connecticut and be the trusted provider that they are,” said Gilchrest. “We’re going to need to step up, and one of those areas is going to be our reproductive health care.”

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