Recent headlines have exploded with the news that Barack Obama has taken action to protect funding for family planning clinics, including Planned Parenthood. The Obama Administration has made a bold statement with proposing modifications to current funding laws regarding health clinics. The administration is reaching the end of their term, and they are ready to put up one more fight before heading out the doors.

The Department of Health and Human Services, more simply known as the Health Department, has recently proposed a Title X funding revision. Title X currently operates by granting tax-payer money to keep community-based clinics open. It was first enacted by former President Richard Nixon as part of the Public Health Service Act. However, due to the stigma surrounding family planning clinics, states have maneuvered around providing the necessary funds, causing many providers throughout the country to shut down.

This new rule proposed by the Obama Administration disavows states’ ability to take money from Title X and prevents states from being able to vote to defund family planning clinics. This protects reproductive and privacy rights of women across the country. The revision will provide money for over four million low-income families seeking family planning services. This proposed revision of Title X still needs to pass in Congress, but Obama’s efforts have not gone unnoticed.

Title X has caused a copious amount of controversy throughout the years because it allows federal money to fund clinics that provide abortions. Contrary to popular belief, none of the Title X money actually goes directly to abortions of any kind. Title X subsidizes all health services provided by clinics for low-income families, including cancer screenings. Unfortunately, certain states disapprove of Title X because these clinics provide abortions, despite the fact that no taxpayer money goes toward abortions. Title X has been very important to the Obama Administration because of its strides for impoverished families and poor communities.