Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Secretary Xavier Becerra, and other members of the Biden Administration, challenging a new rule that he argues overrides parents’ state-law rights to consent to their children’s medical care.
For over 50 years, the Title X statute of the federal Public Health Service Act has funded grants to increase the availability of “comprehensive voluntary family planning services.”
Although HHS administers these grants, recipient organizations must comply with relevant state laws. In the past, both a federal district court and a unanimous panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit have ruled that Title X projects must adhere to Texas’s parental consent laws when dispensing prescription contraceptives to minors.
Read: Gov. Ron DeSantis Appoints 11 To The Florida Faith-Based, Community-Based Advisory Council
However, the Biden Administration’s new agency rule contradicts this legal precedent by prohibiting Title X projects from obtaining parental consent before providing contraceptives to minors, despite Texas law and the Fifth Circuit’s rulings.
Attorney General Paxton’s lawsuit seeks to have the courts nullify this rule and issue a permanent injunction to prevent its enforcement.
Read :CNN’s John King Breaks Down Which Voter Demographics Will Be Key In Swing States
“By attempting to force Texas healthcare providers to offer contraceptives to children without parental consent, the Biden Administration continues to prove they will do anything to implement their extremist agenda—even undermine the Constitution and violate the law,” said Attorney General Paxton. “Federal courts have already shut down their previous attack on parental rights, and I will ensure that we stop them once again.”
Help support the Tampa Free Press by making any small donation by clicking here.
Android Users, Click To Download The Tampa Free Press App And Never Miss A Story. Follow Us On Facebook and Twitter. Sign up for our free newsletter.