White House backs off enforcing underage contraceptive rule in Texas
null / Credit: 279photo Studio/Shutterstock CNA Staff, Dec 6, 2024 / 15:00 pm (CNA).
The White House is backing off from enforcing in Texas a U.S. Health and Human Services Department (HHS) rule that allows children to obtain contraceptives without their parents’ consent, state officials said this week.
This past July, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued the Biden Department of Health and Human Services over the change to Title X that eliminated parental consent requirements for minors accessing birth control.
Title X is the federal funding program for family planning and contraceptive services. Under the Biden administration’s rule, projects funded by the program “may not require consent of parents or guardians for the provision of services to minors.”
The rule also said Title X staff could not “notify a parent or guardian before or after a minor has requested and/or received Title X family planning services.”
In a press release Thursday, Paxton’s office said the Biden administration has now informed a U.S. district court in the state that it will not attempt to “enforce the challenged regulation” in Texas.
“This effectively vacates the unlawful rule in Texas, and Attorney General Paxton filed a notice of dismissal,” the office said.
“This result ensures that Texas health entities will not be forced to violate state law under threat of losing Title X funding.”
It is unclear if the federal government is dropping the requirement for the rest of the country or if its decision only applies to Texas. HHS did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday.
The attorney general’s office also did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Earlier this year the U.S. Senate rejected the “Right to Contraception Act,” which would have created a federal right to contraception with ramifications on religious freedom and protections for minors.
The bill defined contraceptives broadly to include sterilizing drugs, both those “specifically intended to prevent pregnancy or for other health needs.”
