The Family Planning Program (FPP) is a state-based program that provides critical sexual and reproductive healthcare services to hundreds of thousands of Texans. This popular program is one of the best ways for people to get same day health services. The only problem is that FPP often runs out of money halfway through the year due to high demand, and this has been going on for a long time. Clients have even been put in waiting lists that that last up to two months for highly effective long-acting reversible contraceptive methods such as hormonal implants and IUDs.

The Title X Family Planning Program also provides live-saving preventive services, prenatal care, testing and treatment for STIs, contraceptive care and basic health screenings.

It is important to note that ‘fully funding the family planning program’ means that we are meeting current need at current clinics, but we still have a lot of work to do in the coming years/decades to ensure that all Texans have access to healthcare.

The Legislature can increase funding for FPP to meet the current and growing need for family planning services in Texas. Legislature must appropriate at least $153.6 million in all funds for the Family Planning Program.

On February 2024, State Representative Bryan Slaton filed House Bill 2709 which could open doors for Texans to be prosecuted for the use of emergency contraception. This could potentially hurt the full funding of FPP as this funding could help inhibit Title X clinics from giving contraceptive services. As an additional note abortion is not covered by the Family Planning Program (nor it is legal in Texas), while some conservatives feel comfortable advocating for the kinds of services covered by FPP—prenatal care, cancer screenings, STI testing and treatment, and contraceptive care—others might not because of a pervasive belief that family planning care is shorthand for abortion. This issue is very focused on maternal health; talking about reproductive health in the Texas Legislature is VERY delicate. While the FPP is funded in the base budget, there is always the possibility that funding can get taken out if someone gets upset about it.

What Can We Do?

Sign this Petition! We plan to send these signatures to the Senate Finance Committee as that is one the committees in Legislature that control the budget. They decide which programs should get increases and which programs should be cut. Because this is an issue that specifically deals with funding, those are the important committees. We also plan on sending these signatures to State Representative Bryan Slaton.

Find your Rep: Look up your representative through https://wrm.capitol.texas.gov/home

Call your Rep: Now that HB 2709 is filed, we have no time to waste, call your Rep. today!

What can you say? You can say something along the lines of “My name is ____ and Representative _____ is my representative. I want to ask him/her to not sign on as a co-author to House Bill 2709 by Representative Slaton to ______ ”