Texas 2009 - 81st Regular

Texas House Bill HCR91 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	81R7695 BPG-D
2	2	By: Smith of Tarrant H.C.R. No. 91
3	3
4	4
5	5	CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
6	6	WHEREAS, Family planning services are essential to promoting
7	7	reproductive health and, by extension, healthy young families in
8	8	communities of all types throughout Texas, and federal programs
9	9	provide significant financial support to facilities offering these
10	10	services; among the four federal programs that provide funds for
11	11	family planning services in Texas, those operating under Title X of
12	12	the Public Health Service Act and Medicaid require family planning
13	13	facilities to provide confidential contraceptive services to
14	14	anyone who seeks them, regardless of age, in exchange for receiving
15	15	money from the federal government; and
16	16	WHEREAS, Established by Congress in 1970, Title X of the
17	17	Public Health Service Act was designed "to assist in making
18	18	comprehensive voluntary family planning services readily available
19	19	to all persons desiring such services"; in 1997, these services,
20	20	including the availability of contraception, were extended to
21	21	minors under the age of 16 as a result of the United States Supreme
22	22	Court decision in Carey v. Population Services International, 431
23	23	U.S. 678 (1977); consequently, Title X clinics can provide minors
24	24	with free contraceptives without a parent's knowledge or consent;
25	25	and
26	26	WHEREAS, In 1972, Medicaid funding for family planning was
27	27	authorized to cover health care services for low-income women
28	28	through a cooperative federal-state program; in Texas, any provider
29	29	receiving Title X funds from the state must also provide services to
30	30	Medicaid-eligible clients, and, in accepting federal matching
31	31	funds for the Medicaid program, the state cannot require minors to
32	32	obtain parental consent before receiving family planning services,
33	33	including contraceptives; and
34	34	WHEREAS, Taken together, these requirements effectively
35	35	force the state to provide contraceptives to children under the age
36	36	of 16 in order to finance critical family planning services and
37	37	reduce the likelihood of parental involvement at a time in a child's
38	38	sexual development when emotional capacity is not likely to
39	39	correspond to physical maturity; additionally, family planning
40	40	programs operating under Title V and Title XX of the Social Security
41	41	Act are not explicitly prohibited from requiring parental consent
42	42	for the dispensation of prescriptions, devaluing the implication
43	43	that confidentiality is a necessity and sending a mixed message to
44	44	state administrators of family planning programs; now, therefore,
45	45	be it
46	46	RESOLVED, That the 81st Legislature of the State of Texas
47	47	hereby respectfully urge the Congress of the United States to
48	48	remove confidentiality mandates for minors from family planning
49	49	services programs operating under Title X of the Public Health
50	50	Services Act and Medicaid; and, be it further
51	51	RESOLVED, That the Texas secretary of state forward official
52	52	copies of this resolution to the president of the United States, to
53	53	the speaker of the house of representatives and the president of the
54	54	senate of the United States Congress, and to all the members of the
55	55	Texas delegation to the Congress with the request that this
56	56	resolution be officially entered in the Congressional Record as a
57	57	memorial to the Congress of the United States of America.