WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) released a statement on Friday on the Trump administration’s rule to prohibit health care providers who receive Title X program funding – such as Planned Parenthood – from performing abortions, and a gag rule banning health providers from discussing abortion with their patients. Planned Parenthood receives funding through the Title X program for non-abortion services, such as annual screenings and checkups. Current law already prohibits federal money from being used to fund abortions.

“This is a specific, targeted attack on women’s health. In Connecticut, 64,000 people rely on Planned Parenthood for cancer screenings, breast exams, checkups, and other preventive care. Without it, many of them would have nowhere else to go,” said Murphy. “Despite the fact that, since the 1980s, it’s been against the law for federal dollars to be used to fund abortions, President Trump and his buddies are going to shut down access to health care for 64,000 people in our state to make an ideological point that may or may not get them some votes in the midterm elections.”