# Understanding This Bill About Family Planning Services

This bill is Congress's way of rejecting a new rule that the Department of Health and Human Services created in October 2021. That rule was designed to make family planning services—like contraception, cancer screenings, and reproductive health care—more accessible, affordable, and easier for people to get. If this bill passes, it would cancel that rule entirely and prevent it from taking effect.

The practical effect is that the new protections and requirements the rule would have put in place would disappear. The rule had aimed to ensure that family planning clinics could operate smoothly and that people could access these services without unnecessary barriers. By disapproving it, Congress would be saying "we don't want this rule to exist," which means the government wouldn't be enforcing those new standards and protections for family planning services going forward.

Who this affects depends on where you live and what services you use. People who rely on family planning clinics for reproductive health care, contraception, or preventive screenings could potentially face different levels of access or service depending on their state and local regulations. The bill was introduced by Republican members of Congress, suggesting this is a partisan disagreement about how much the federal government should regulate family planning services. Whether this bill actually becomes law depends on whether it gets enough votes in both the House and Senate and whether the President signs it.

Providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the rule submitted by the Department of Health and Human Services relating to "Ensuring Access to Equitable, Affordable, Client-Centered, Quality Family Planning Services".

Rep. Gonzales, Tony [R-TX-23]

 <p>This joint resolution nullifies the rule issued by the Department of Health and Human Services on October 7, 2021, that reverts requirements for federally funded providers of family planning services to those in effect before May 3, 2019, and makes other changes to family planning programs. Specific changes in the rule include (1) removing restrictions on pregnancy options counseling and referrals for abortion services, (2) eliminating requirements for physical and financial separation between abortion-related activities and specified family planning activities, and (3) providing a particular focus on health equity.</p>