Trump’s Gag Rule on Title X: An Examination of Fetal and Infant Mortality Rates in Women of Color Open Access

Abstract

Trump’s gag rule on Title X has forced many women to lose access to reproductive healthcare, especially low-income women and women of color. Title X is a part of the national family planning act that was created in 1970. Its purpose was to help low-income women gain access to family planning care by providing funding to the clinics that provide this care. The gag rule prohibited funding from going to clinics that gave abortion counseling and referrals, which caused many clinics to withdraw from the federal funding. This withdrawal of funding forced many clinics to close and has effectively reduced many women’s accesses to healthcare. This article examines how Trump’s Gag Rule on Title X may have impacted racial and ethnic inequities in infant and fetal health. The analysis quantifies the relationship between the number of Title X users by region, race, and year from the National Family Planning Report Summary from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and fetal and infant mortality rates from the Vital Statistics Mortality Database. Multivariate regression analyses explored the relationships between the rate of Title X users and infant and fetal mortality. The results show large differences in infant and fetal mortality by race and ethnicity. Rates of Title X users were significantly associated with infant mortality rates but not fetal mortality. 

Table of Contents

Introduction 1 

Existing Literature 4 

Data and Methods 9 

Results 13 

Discussion 20 

Conclusion 21 

References 23 

About this Honors Thesis

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School	Emory College
Department	Sociology
Degree	B.A.
Submission	Honors Thesis
Language	English
Research Field	Health Sciences, Public Health Sociology, Ethnic and Racial Studies
Keyword	Title X
Committee Chair / Thesis Advisor	Dr. Sohn, Emory University
Committee Members	Dr. Mullis, Emory University Dr. Howard, Emory University Dr. Goss, Emory University

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