On Thursday, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a lawsuit against the Biden administration over the Title X program, which offers birth control to teenagers without requiring parental consent. This program has been the sole source of confidential contraception for minors in Texas. However, a court ruling in 2022 mandated that Texas providers must now obtain parental approval, making access to birth control more difficult for teens.
Let me give you the rundown.
Title X is a program that originated during the Nixon administration and offers confidential contraception to individuals of any income bracket, immigration status, or age. According to federal regulations and multiple court rulings, Title X providers are not allowed to mandate that adolescents obtain parental consent in order to receive prescribed birth control.
Back in 2020, a father from Amarillo filed a lawsuit against a provision that he believed violated his parental rights, which are guaranteed by the Texas Constitution. The father’s name was Alexander Deanda, and he was represented by Jonathan Mitchell, a prominent conservative legal figure who previously served as the Texas Solicitor General. The lawsuit was filed in a federal court located in Amarillo, where Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, a conservative judge, presides over almost all cases.
In March, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld Kacsmaryk’s ruling, which required Title X providers in Texas to obtain parental consent before prescribing birth control. Kacsmaryk supported Deanda’s stance on the matter.
As the events of this case transpired in 2021, the Biden administration brought about a new regulation that emphasizes the fact that Title X providers are not permitted to mandate parental or guardian consent for providing services to minors. Additionally, no staff member of a Title X project can inform a parent or guardian before or after a minor has sought and/or received Title X family planning services.
According to Paxton, the reason behind Texas’s lawsuit is the belief that this rule goes against the 5th Circuit’s judgment. He is urging the courts to issue a permanent injunction against it, stating that it is in defiance of their ruling.
In a statement, Paxton criticized the Biden Administration for its attempts to make Texas healthcare providers offer contraceptives to children without parental consent. He accused them of going to any lengths to implement their extremist agenda, even if it means undermining the Constitution and breaking the law.
Paxton filed the lawsuit in a federal court located in Amarillo. Judge Kacsmaryk, who had previously ruled against the program’s confidentiality clause, will inevitably preside over the case.
Title X providers emphasize the significance of confidentiality when it comes to their work with minors who may not be able to seek parental permission for birth control. While Every Body Texas, the statewide administrator of the Title X program, did not respond to the request for comment, the providers have been vocal about this issue.
According to Dr. Luis Garza, the chief medical officer of Project Vida, a Title X provider in El Paso, there was a significant decrease in the number of teenagers making appointments for contraception after the clinic implemented a policy that required parental consent. As of April, there was a 50% drop in the number of appointments made by teens seeking contraception.
According to Garza, many individuals are hesitant to come forward due to fear of their parents finding out, causing them to miss out on valuable opportunities.
Impact beyond the lawsuit: Although this lawsuit regarding parental consent for Title X providers in Texas will not affect teenagers’ access to contraception, it is a part of a larger trend that restricts reproductive healthcare in the state.
2022 fertility data indicates that Texas’ teenage pregnancy rate has increased for the first time in years since the state prohibited almost all abortions after around six weeks of pregnancy. With the virtually complete ban on abortions and reduced access to contraception, many healthcare providers and advocates are concerned about a potential surge in these figures.
Dr. Josephine Porter, the chief medical officer at Tyler Family Circle of Care, stated in an interview with the Texas Tribune in April that teens who are unable to obtain parental consent for birth control are often overlooked by the healthcare system until they are already pregnant or have contracted a sexually transmitted disease. These teens tend to be invisible to healthcare providers, causing them to miss out on important preventative care.
