Texas sues Biden administration over rule removing parental consent for minor contraceptive access

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Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jul 29, 2024 / 17:00 pm (CNA).

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and several others are suing the Biden Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) over a change to Title X that eliminated parental consent requirements for minors accessing contraceptives.

Title X is the federal funding program for family planning and contraceptive services.

Under the Biden administration’s rule, which took effect on Nov. 8, 2021, projects funded by the program “may not require consent of parents or guardians for the provision of services to minors, nor can any Title X project staff notify a parent or guardian before or after a minor has requested and/or received Title X family planning services.”

In the suit, filed last Thursday, Paxton is asking the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas to permanently block the change, which he calls the Biden administration’s “non-consent rule.”

According to Paxton, the new HHS policy undermines Texas law and current legal precedent established by a recent ruling by the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals.

In March, a panel from the 5th Circuit Court ruled that Texas law requiring parental consent for contraceptives does not violate U.S. federal law, according to reporting by the Texas Tribune.

In a July 25 statement, Paxton said that “by attempting to force Texas health care 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.”

“Federal courts have already shut down their previous attack on parental rights, and I will ensure that we stop them once again,” he said.

The suit argues that the policy injures “every parent in the United States” who wishes to oversee their children’s access to contraceptives.

“In Texas, parents must consent to their child’s medical care,” the suit reads.

The suit claims that the Biden administration’s non-consent policy diminishes parental rights and contributes to the “weakening” of parents’ “ability to raise their children in accordance with the teachings of the Christian faith.”

The Department of Health and Human Services did not immediately respond to CNA’s request for comment.