HHS Intra-agency Task Force on Reproductive Healthcare Access Announced
On Jan. 21, the day before the 49th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra announced the HHS Intra-agency Task Force on Reproductive Healthcare Access.
The press release on the task force states that “The task force includes subject matter experts from across the department. The HHS Assistant Secretary for Health and the HHS Assistant Secretary for Global Affairs will serve as the co-chairs of this coordinating body. The task force’s primary goal is to facilitate collaborative, innovative, transparent, equitable, and action-oriented approaches to protect and bolster sexual and reproductive health.”
According to the release, HHS has taken several actions under the current administration to protect and strengthen reproductive health, rights, and justice. The actions include:
- Issuing a new final rule for Title X—the nation’s family planning program—to safeguard access to equitable, affordable, client-centered, quality family planning services
- $6.6 million in funding through Title X to address demands for family planning services where restrictive laws have impacted reproductive health access
- Advancing material health priorities—including the expansion of access to postpartum Medicaid coverage, rural health services, and implicit bias training
- Issuing guidance on both nondiscrimination requirements of the Church Amendments protecting healthcare providers through its Office for Civil Rights and providers’ legal obligations and protections under the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA) through the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to provide medical treatment to a pregnant patient who presents to the emergency department, regardless of conflicting state laws or mandates that might seek to prevent such treatment
Secretary Becerra was quoted in the release saying that “As we commemorate the 49th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, we recommit to protecting and strengthening access to reproductive healthcare, including the right to safe and legal abortion care that the Supreme Court has recognized for decades. Patients have the right to make decisions about their own bodies. In light of restrictive laws across the nation, HHS will evaluate the impact on patients and our communities. That’s why today, I have launched the first Intra-agency Task Force on Reproductive Healthcare Access. Once again, we are telling health care providers and patients, we have your back.”