§300. Project grants and contracts for family planning services
(a) Authority of Secretary
The Secretary is authorized to make grants to and enter into contracts with public or nonprofit private entities to assist in the establishment and operation of voluntary family planning projects which shall offer a broad range of acceptable and effective family planning methods and services (including natural family planning methods, infertility services, and services for adolescents). To the extent practical, entities which receive grants or contracts under this subsection shall encourage familiy 1 participation in projects assisted under this subsection.
(b) Factors determining awards; establishment and preservation of rights of local and regional entities
In making grants and contracts under this section the Secretary shall take into account the number of patients to be served, the extent to which family planning services are needed locally, the relative need of the applicant, and its capacity to make rapid and effective use of such assistance. Local and regional entities shall be assured the right to apply for direct grants and contracts under this section, and the Secretary shall by regulation fully provide for and protect such right.
(c) Reduction of grant amount
The Secretary, at the request of a recipient of a grant under subsection (a), may reduce the amount of such grant by the fair market value of any supplies or equipment furnished the grant recipient by the Secretary. The amount by which any such grant is so reduced shall be available for payment by the Secretary of the costs incurred in furnishing the supplies or equipment on which the reduction of such grant is based. Such amount shall be deemed as part of the grant and shall be deemed to have been paid to the grant recipient.
(d) Authorization of appropriations
For the purpose of making grants and contracts under this section, there are authorized to be appropriated $30,000,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1971; $60,000,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1972; $111,500,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1973, $111,500,000 each for the fiscal years ending June 30, 1974, and June 30, 1975; $115,000,000 for fiscal year 1976; $115,000,000 for the fiscal year ending September 30, 1977; $136,400,000 for the fiscal year ending September 30, 1978; $200,000,000 for the fiscal year ending September 30, 1979; $230,000,000 for the fiscal year ending September 30, 1980; $264,500,000 for the fiscal year ending September 30, 1981; $126,510,000 for the fiscal year ending September 30, 1982; $139,200,000 for the fiscal year ending September 30, 1983; $150,830,000 for the fiscal year ending September 30, 1984; and $158,400,000 for the fiscal year ending September 30, 1985.
(July 1, 1944, ch. 373, title X, §1001, as added
Editorial Notes
Amendments
1984-Subsec. (c).
Subsec. (d).
1983-Subsec. (c).
1981-Subsec. (a).
Subsec. (c).
1978-Subsec. (a).
Subsec. (c).
1977-Subsec. (c).
1975-Subsec. (a).
Subsec. (b).
Subsec. (c).
1973-Subsec. (c).
1972-Subsec. (c).
Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries
Effective Date of 1975 Amendment
Amendment by sections 202(a) and 204(a), (b) of
Study as to Discrimination by Schools of Medicine, Nursing, or Osteopathy Against Applicants Because of Reluctance or Willingness To Participate in Abortions or Sterilizations; Report Not Later Than February 1, 1978
Congressional Declaration of Purpose
"(1) to assist in making comprehensive voluntary family planning services readily available to all persons desiring such services;
"(2) to coordinate domestic population and family planning research with the present and future needs of family planning programs;
"(3) to improve administrative and operational supervision of domestic family planning services and of population research programs related to such services;
"(4) to enable public and nonprofit private entities to plan and develop comprehensive programs of family planning services;
"(5) to develop and make readily available information (including educational materials) on family planning and population growth to all persons desiring such information;
"(6) to evaluate and improve the effectiveness of family planning service programs and of population research;
"(7) to assist in providing trained manpower needed to effectively carry out programs of population research and family planning services; and
"(8) to establish an Office of Population Affairs in the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare as a primary focus within the Federal Government on matters pertaining to population research and family planning, through which the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare [now Health and Human Services] (hereafter in this Act referred to as the 'Secretary') shall carry out the purposes of this Act."
Executive Documents
Ex. Ord. No. 14076. Protecting Access to Reproductive Healthcare Services
Ex. Ord. No. 14076, July 8, 2022, 87 F.R. 42053, provided:
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered as follows:
Eliminating the right recognized in Roe has already had and will continue to have devastating implications for women's health and public health more broadly. Access to reproductive healthcare services is now threatened for millions of Americans, and especially for those who live in States that are banning or severely restricting abortion care. Women's health clinics are being forced to close-including clinics that offer other preventive healthcare services such as contraception-leaving many communities without access to critical reproductive healthcare services. Women seeking abortion care-especially those in low-income, rural, and other underserved communities-now have to travel to jurisdictions where services remain legal notwithstanding the cost or risks.
In the face of this health crisis, the Federal Government is taking action to protect healthcare service delivery and promote access to critical reproductive healthcare services, including abortion. It remains the policy of my Administration to support women's right to choose and to protect and defend reproductive rights. Doing so is essential to justice, equality, and our health, safety, and progress as a Nation.
(b) The term "reproductive healthcare services" means medical, surgical, counseling, or referral services relating to the human reproductive system, including services relating to pregnancy or the termination of a pregnancy.
(i) identifying potential actions:
(A) to protect and expand access to abortion care, including medication abortion; and
(B) to otherwise protect and expand access to the full range of reproductive healthcare services, including actions to enhance family planning services such as access to emergency contraception;
(ii) identifying ways to increase outreach and education about access to reproductive healthcare services, including by launching a public awareness initiative to provide timely and accurate information about such access, which shall:
(A) share information about how to obtain free or reduced cost reproductive healthcare services through Health Resources and Services Administration-Funded Health Centers, Title X clinics, and other providers; and
(B) include promoting awareness of and access to the full range of contraceptive services, as well as know-your-rights information for those seeking or providing reproductive healthcare services; and
(iii) identifying steps to ensure that all patients-including pregnant women and those experiencing pregnancy loss, such as miscarriages and ectopic pregnancies-receive the full protections for emergency medical care afforded under the law, including by considering updates to current guidance on obligations specific to emergency conditions and stabilizing care under the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act, 42 U.S.C. 1395dd, and providing data from the Department of Health and Human Services concerning implementation of these efforts.
(b) To promote access to reproductive healthcare services, the Attorney General and the Counsel to the President shall convene a meeting of private pro bono attorneys, bar associations, and public interest organizations in order to encourage lawyers to represent and assist patients, providers, and third parties lawfully seeking these services throughout the country.
(b) To address the potential threat to patient privacy caused by the transfer and sale of sensitive health-related data and by digital surveillance related to reproductive healthcare services, and to protect people seeking reproductive health services from fraudulent schemes or deceptive practices:
(i) The Chair of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is encouraged to consider actions, as appropriate and consistent with applicable law (including the Federal Trade Commission Act, 15 U.S.C. 41 et seq.), to protect consumers' privacy when seeking information about and provision of reproductive healthcare services.
(ii) The Secretary of Health and Human Services shall consider actions, including providing guidance under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act [of 1996],
(iii) The Secretary of Health and Human Services shall, in consultation with the Attorney General, consider actions to educate consumers on how best to protect their health privacy and limit the collection and sharing of their sensitive health-related information.
(iv) The Secretary of Health and Human Services shall, in consultation with the Attorney General and the Chair of the FTC, consider options to address deceptive or fraudulent practices related to reproductive healthcare services, including online, and to protect access to accurate information.
(b) The Attorney General shall provide technical assistance, as appropriate and consistent with applicable law, concerning Federal constitutional protections to States seeking to afford legal protection to out-of-State patients and providers who offer legal reproductive healthcare.
(i) the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or the head thereof; or
(ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.
(b) This order shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations.
(c) This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.
J.R. Biden, Jr.
Ex. Ord. No. 14079. Securing Access to Reproductive and Other Healthcare Services
Ex. Ord. No. 14079, Aug. 3, 2022, 87 F.R. 49505, provided:
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered as follows:
Following that order, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has taken critical steps to address those effects. These steps include clarifying the obligation of hospitals and providers under the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act, 42 U.S.C. 1395dd, to provide to patients presenting at an emergency department with an emergency medical condition stabilizing care, including an abortion, if that care is necessary to stabilize their emergency medical condition, and issuing guidance to the Nation's retail pharmacies on their obligations under Federal civil rights laws-including section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act [of 1973], 29 U.S.C. 794, and section 1557 of the [Patient Protection and] Affordable Care Act, 42 U.S.C. 18116-to ensure equal access to comprehensive reproductive and other healthcare services, including for women who are experiencing miscarriages.
However, the continued advancement of restrictive abortion laws in States across the country has created legal uncertainty and disparate access to reproductive healthcare services depending on where a person lives, putting patients, providers, and third parties at risk and fueling confusion for hospitals and healthcare providers, including pharmacies. There have been numerous reports of women denied health- and life-saving emergency care, as providers fearful of legal reprisal delay necessary treatment for patients until their conditions worsen to dangerous levels. There are also reports of women of reproductive age being denied prescription medication at pharmacies-including medication that is used to treat stomach ulcers, lupus, arthritis, and cancer-due to concerns that these medications, some of which can be used in medication abortions, could be used to terminate a pregnancy. Reportedly, a healthcare provider, citing a State law restricting abortion, even temporarily stopped providing emergency contraception.
As it remains the policy of my Administration to support women's access to reproductive healthcare services, including their ability to travel to seek abortion care in States where it is legal, I am directing my Administration to take further action to protect access to reproductive healthcare services and to address the crisis facing women's health and public health more broadly.
(a) providing technical assistance for healthcare providers that have questions concerning their obligations under Federal non-discrimination laws;
(b) convening healthcare providers to provide information on their obligations under Federal non-discrimination laws and the potential consequences of non-compliance; and
(c) issuing additional guidance, or taking other action as appropriate, in response to any complaints or other reports of non-compliance with Federal non-discrimination laws.
(i) the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or the head thereof; or
(ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.
(b) This order shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations.
(c) This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.
J.R. Biden, Jr.
Ex. Ord. No. 14101. Strengthening Access to Affordable, High-Quality Contraception and Family Planning Services
Ex. Ord. No. 14101, June 23, 2023, 88 F.R. 41815, provided:
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered as follows:
Through new requirements for private health coverage and expanded access to Medicaid, the [Patient Protection and] Affordable Care Act [
Given that the Supreme Court overruled Roe, which rested on the fundamental right to privacy in matters of health, bodily autonomy, and family, it has never been more important to protect and expand access to family planning services. Dobbs has already had, and will continue to have, devastating implications for women's health. In States with laws that restrict access to abortion, health clinics that provide contraception and other essential health services have shuttered, eliminating critical points of care. Some State officials have adopted policies interfering with access to emergency contraception, including for vulnerable populations. Such policies further threaten women's ability to make decisions about their own bodies, families, and futures. These threats persist despite decades of Supreme Court precedent, beginning with Griswold v. Connecticut, 381 U.S. 479 (1965), and Eisenstadt v. Baird, 405 U.S. 438 (1972), affirming the right to contraception. Moreover, an overwhelming majority of Americans support access to contraception.
In the wake of the Supreme Court's decision in Dobbs, I issued Executive Order 14076 of July 8, 2022 (Protecting Access to Reproductive Healthcare Services) [set out above], and Executive Order 14079 of August 3, 2022 (Securing Access to Reproductive and Other Healthcare Services) [set out above], to direct my Administration to take action to protect access to reproductive healthcare services, including contraception and abortion. In Executive Order 14076, I directed the Secretary of Health and Human Services and the Director of the Gender Policy Council to establish an Interagency Task Force on Reproductive Healthcare Access to coordinate these efforts across my Administration. Consistent with these Executive Orders and other applicable authorities, executive departments and agencies have taken numerous steps to protect and strengthen access to contraception, including:
(a) issuing guidance and convening sponsors of employee benefit plans and health insurers to clarify contraception coverage requirements under the Affordable Care Act;
(b) expanding walk-in contraceptive care services for active duty service members and other Military Health System beneficiaries;
(c) issuing a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to improve access to affordable contraception for certain dependents of veterans;
(d) providing additional funding to bolster training, develop and expand telehealth infrastructure and capacity, and provide technical assistance for clinics funded under Title X of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 300 et seq.) (Title X);
(e) strengthening the inclusion of family planning providers in insurance networks for qualified health plans under the Affordable Care Act;
(f) issuing a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to provide a new pathway for women to access contraceptives when their private health coverage is exempt from covering this benefit;
(g) issuing a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to strengthen privacy protections under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996,
(h) issuing a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to ensure healthcare providers that receive Federal financial assistance do not deny healthcare, including contraception, on the basis of any ground protected by Federal law; and
(i) reminding Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA)-funded health centers of their obligations to provide family planning services to patients consistent with Federal requirements.
Through this order, I direct my Administration to build on this progress and further strengthen and bolster access to affordable, high-quality contraception. It remains the policy of my Administration to support access to reproductive healthcare services and to protect and defend reproductive rights in the face of ongoing efforts to strip Americans of their fundamental freedoms.
(i) ensure coverage of comprehensive contraceptive care, including all contraceptives approved, granted, or cleared by the Food and Drug Administration, without cost sharing for enrollees, participants, and beneficiaries; and
(ii) streamline the process for patients and healthcare providers to request coverage, without cost sharing, of medically necessary contraception.
(b) The Secretaries shall consider additional actions, as appropriate and consistent with applicable law, to promote increased access to affordable over-the-counter contraception, including emergency contraception.
(a) expand access to affordable family planning services and supplies across the Medicaid program, including by identifying and disseminating best practices for providing high-quality family planning services and supplies, including through Medicaid-managed care; and
(b) improve coverage and payment for contraceptives for Medicare beneficiaries through Medicare Advantage and Medicare Part D plans.
(i) ensure, where appropriate, robust coverage of contraception under Federal programs;
(ii) offer technical assistance to help promote access to contraception, where relevant; and
(iii) educate Federal program participants and beneficiaries on how to access affordable, high-quality contraception, including through public awareness initiatives that provide timely and accurate information about such access.
(b) To promote access to affordable, high-quality contraception across Federal healthcare programs and relevant human services programs, including through Title X clinics, HRSA-funded health centers, and the Indian Health Service, the Secretary of Health and Human Services shall consider taking actions, as appropriate and consistent with applicable law, to:
(i) encourage all federally funded health centers, including HRSA-funded health centers, to expand the availability and quality of voluntary family planning services offered to beneficiaries;
(ii) support healthcare providers that participate in the Title X program through new technical assistance and training;
(iii) support access to culturally and linguistically appropriate care, including by developing and disseminating materials on family planning services available at federally funded health centers;
(iv) provide guidance on contraception-related obligations, such as confidentiality protections, and technical assistance resources to funding recipients, where relevant; and
(v) support research and data analysis to document gaps and disparities in access to contraception, as well as the benefits of comprehensive coverage for contraception and family planning services through public and private healthcare programs.
(c) The Secretary of Labor shall identify best practices for making affordable, high-quality contraception available to health plan enrollees, participants, and beneficiaries to share with employers and organizations that sponsor private health coverage.
(d) The Secretary of Education shall convene institutions of higher education to share best practices for making affordable, high-quality contraception available, as well as ways to raise awareness of options for accessing contraception.
(i) the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or the head thereof; or
(ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.
(b) This order shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations.
(c) This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.
J.R. Biden, Jr.
The Title X "Gag Rule"
Memorandum of President of the United States, Jan. 22, 1993, 58 F.R. 7455, provided:
Memorandum for the Secretary of Health and Human Services
Title X of the Public Health Services Act [42 U.S.C. 300 et seq.] provides Federal funding for family planning clinics to provide services for low-income patients. The Act specifies that Title X funds may not be used for the performance of abortions, but places no restrictions on the ability of clinics that receive Title X funds to provide abortion counseling and referrals or to perform abortions using non-Title X funds. During the first 18 years of the program, medical professionals at Title X clinics provided complete, uncensored information, including nondirective abortion counseling. In February 1988, the Department of Health and Human Services adopted regulations, which have become known as the "Gag Rule," prohibiting Title X recipients from providing their patients with information, counseling, or referrals concerning abortion. Subsequent attempts by the Bush Administration to modify the Gag Rule and ensuing litigation have created confusion and uncertainty about the current legal status of the regulations.
The Gag Rule endangers women's lives and health by preventing them from receiving complete and accurate medical information and interferes with the doctor-patient relationship by prohibiting information that medical professionals are otherwise ethically and legally required to provide to their patients. Furthermore, the Gag Rule contravenes the clear intent of a majority of the members of both the United States Senate and House of Representatives, which twice passed legislation to block the Gag Rule's enforcement but failed to override Presidential vetoes.
For these reasons, you have informed me that you will suspend the Gag Rule pending the promulgation of new regulations in accordance with the "notice and comment" procedures of the Administrative Procedure Act [5 U.S.C. 551 et seq.]. I hereby direct you to take that action as soon as possible. I further direct that, within 30 days, you publish in the Federal Register new proposed regulations for public comment.
You are hereby authorized and directed to publish this memorandum in the Federal Register.
William J. Clinton.
Protecting Women's Health at Home and Abroad
Memorandum of President of the United States, Jan. 28, 2021, 86 F.R. 33077, provided:
Memorandum for the Secretary of State[,] the Secretary of Defense[,] the Secretary of Health and Human Services[, and] the Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development
In the United States, Title X of the Public Health Services [sic] Act (42 U.S.C. 300 to 300a–6) provides Federal funding for family planning services that primarily benefit low-income patients. The Act specifies that Title X funds may not be used in programs where abortion is a method of family planning, but places no further abortion-related restrictions on recipients of Title X funds. See 42 U.S.C. 300a–6. In 2019, the Secretary of Health and Human Services finalized changes to regulations governing the Title X program and issued a final rule entitled "Compliance With Statutory Program Integrity Requirements," 84 FR 7714 (Mar. 4, 2019) (Title X Rule), which prohibits recipients of Title X funds from referring patients to abortion providers and imposes other onerous requirements on abortion providers. The Title X Rule has caused the termination of Federal family planning funding for many women's healthcare providers and puts women's health at risk by making it harder for women to receive complete medical information.
It is the policy of my Administration to support women's and girls' sexual and reproductive health and rights in the United States, as well as globally. The Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2151b(f)(1)), prohibits nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) that receive Federal funds from using those funds "to pay for the performance of abortions as a method of family planning, or to motivate or coerce any person to practice abortions." The August 1984 announcement by President Reagan of what has become known as the "Mexico City Policy" directed the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to expand this limitation and withhold USAID family planning funds from NGOs that use non-USAID funds to perform abortions, provide advice, counseling, or information regarding abortion, or lobby a foreign government to legalize abortion or make abortion services more easily available. These restrictions were rescinded by President Clinton in 1993, reinstated by President George W. Bush in 2001, and rescinded by President Obama in 2009. President Trump substantially expanded these restrictions by applying the policy to global health assistance provided by all executive departments and agencies (agencies). These excessive conditions on foreign and development assistance undermine the United States' efforts to advance gender equality globally by restricting our ability to support women's health and programs that prevent and respond to gender-based violence. The expansion of the policy has also affected all other areas of global health assistance, limiting the United States' ability to work with local partners around the world and inhibiting their efforts to confront serious health challenges such as HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria, among others. Such restrictions on global health assistance are particularly harmful in light of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID–19) pandemic. Accordingly, I hereby order as follows:
(b) The Presidential Memorandum of January 23, 2017 (The Mexico City Policy) [82 F.R. 8495], is revoked.
(c) The Secretary of State, the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, the Administrator of USAID, and appropriate officials at all other agencies involved in foreign assistance shall take all steps necessary to implement this memorandum, as appropriate and consistent with applicable law. This shall include the following actions with respect to conditions in assistance awards that were imposed pursuant to the January 2017 Presidential Memorandum and that are not required by the Foreign Assistance Act [22 U.S.C. 2151 et seq.] or any other law:
(i) immediately waive such conditions in any current grants;
(ii) notify current grantees, as soon as possible, that these conditions have been waived; and
(iii) immediately cease imposing these conditions in any future assistance awards.
(d) The Secretary of State, the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, and the Administrator of USAID, as appropriate and consistent with applicable law, shall suspend, revise, or rescind any regulations, orders, guidance documents, policies, and any other similar agency actions that were issued pursuant to the January 2017 Presidential Memorandum.
(e) The Secretary of State and the Secretary of Health and Human Services, in a timely and appropriate manner, shall withdraw co-sponsorship and signature from the Geneva Consensus Declaration (Declaration) and notify other co-sponsors and signatories to the Declaration and other appropriate parties of the United States' withdrawal.
(f) The Secretary of State, consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations, shall:
(i) take the steps necessary to resume funding to the United Nations Population Fund; and
(ii) work with the Administrator of USAID and across United States Government foreign assistance programs to ensure that adequate funds are being directed to support women's health needs globally, including sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights.
(g) The Secretary of State, in coordination with the Secretary of Health and Human Services, shall provide guidance to agencies consistent with this memorandum.
(i) the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or the head thereof; or
(ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.
(b) This memorandum shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations.
(c) This memorandum is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.
(d) The Secretary of State is authorized and directed to publish this memorandum in the Federal Register.
J.R. Biden, Jr.
Further Efforts To Protect Access to Reproductive Healthcare Services
Memorandum of President of the United States, Jan. 22, 2023, 88 F.R. 4895, provided:
Memorandum for the Attorney General[,] the Secretary of Health and Human Services[, and] the Secretary of Homeland Security
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered as follows:
The Food and Drug Administration Amendments Act of 2007 (
On January 3, 2023, the FDA, after an independent and comprehensive review of the risks and benefits of the drug, modified the REMS for mifepristone. The FDA took evidence-based action that supports access to mifepristone by helping ensure that healthcare providers and patients can continue to use telehealth to prescribe and receive mifepristone by mail after the end of the COVID–19 public health emergency. During the COVID–19 public health emergency, the FDA stopped enforcing a prior requirement that mifepristone be dispensed in person, and the FDA's January 2023 REMS permanently removed the in-person dispensing requirement. Additionally, pharmacies can now choose to become certified to dispense mifepristone to patients. These changes seek to reduce the burden on the healthcare delivery system while ensuring the benefits of the medication outweigh the risks. These changes also help ensure that patients can access mifepristone similarly to how they would access other prescribed medications.
In the wake of the new REMS for mifepristone, there have been reports of efforts to suppress access to medication abortion. Some State officials have announced that they will impose restrictions to limit access to this evidence-based, safe, and effective medication. In a letter to the FDA, for example, 22 State Attorneys General threatened to enforce State laws that purport to interfere with access to mifepristone. In Florida, the Governor recently said that major pharmacy chains in the State will not offer mifepristone. Florida health officials issued guidance discouraging pharmacies from dispensing mifepristone, claiming that State law limits where abortion medication can be provided to hospitals, clinics, or physician offices. These actions have stoked confusion, sowed fear, and may prevent patients from accessing safe and effective FDA-approved medication.
At the same time, those who provide reproductive healthcare continue to face heightened safety concerns. There are reports that some have vowed to make people uncomfortable entering pharmacies that dispense mifepristone.
In Executive Order 14076 of July 8, 2022 (Protecting Access to Reproductive Healthcare Services) [set out above], I directed the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to identify potential actions to protect and expand access to abortion care, including medication abortion. In that order, I directed the Attorney General and the Secretary of Homeland Security to consider actions, as appropriate and consistent with applicable law, that would protect the safety and security of patients, providers, and third parties, and that would protect the security of pharmacies and other entities providing, dispensing, or delivering reproductive and related healthcare services.
Since the issuance of Executive Order 14076, my Administration has taken steps to clarify the protections available to those who seek reproductive health services. The Department of Justice announced the formation of a Reproductive Rights Task Force, which, among other things, is focused on evaluating and monitoring State and local legislation, regulation, and enforcement actions that threaten to infringe on Federal legal protections relating to the provision or pursuit of reproductive care. HHS has published a report detailing its efforts to protect access to reproductive healthcare, including abortion care; protect patients' privacy and promote access to accurate information about reproductive healthcare services; and ensure that patients receive appropriate medical treatment under the law. Furthermore, HHS has continued taking action to help ensure non-discrimination in healthcare service delivery, including with respect to reproductive healthcare services and pharmacy access.
My Administration remains committed to supporting safe access to mifepristone, consistent with applicable law, and defending women's fundamental freedoms. Defending and protecting reproductive rights is essential to our Nation's health, safety, and progress. It is the policy of my Administration to protect against threats to the liberty and autonomy of those who live in this country.
(a) The Secretary of HHS, in consultation with the Attorney General and the Secretary of Homeland Security, shall consider:
(i) issuing guidance for patients seeking legal access to mifepristone, as well as for providers and entities, including pharmacies, that provide reproductive healthcare and seek to legally prescribe and provide mifepristone; and
(ii) any further actions, as appropriate and consistent with applicable law, to educate individuals on their ability to seek legal reproductive care, free from threats or violence.
(b) The Attorney General, the Secretary of Homeland Security, and the Secretary of HHS shall, as appropriate, provide the Interagency Task Force on Reproductive Healthcare Access, established in Executive Order 14076, with information concerning:
(i) potential barriers faced by patients seeking legal access to mifepristone or other reproductive healthcare, as well as by providers and entities, including pharmacies, that provide reproductive healthcare in providing mifepristone or other reproductive healthcare, and any recommendations for addressing these barriers; and
(ii) whether any additional institutional resources may be necessary to address these barriers.
(i) the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or the head thereof; or
(ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.
(b) This memorandum shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations.
(c) This memorandum is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.
(d) The Attorney General is authorized and directed to publish this memorandum in the Federal Register.
J.R. Biden, Jr.