Texas Sues Feds To Block Birth Control For Teenagers
July 26, 2024

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Texas sues Biden administration over confidential contraception for teens
Federal clinics in Texas are already required to get parental permission to prescribe birth control after a 2022 court ruling.

BY ELEANOR KLIBANOFF
JULY 25, 2024
19 HOURS AGO

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton on Thursday announced he is suing the Biden administration over a federal contraception program that provides teens birth control without requiring parental consent. The Title X program has long been the only way minors in Texas can access confidential contraception, but since a court ruling in 2022, Texas providers have been required to get parental sign-off.

Here’s what you need to know

The background: Title X is a Nixon-era program that provides confidential contraception to anyone, regardless of income, immigration status or age. Federal regulations, and several court rulings, have long held that Title X providers cannot require teens to get parental permission to be prescribed birth control.

In 2020, an Amarillo father sued over that provision, saying it violated his parental rights as guaranteed by the Texas Constitution. Alexander Deanda was represented by Jonathan Mitchell, the former Texas Solicitor General and conservative legal firebrand. Mitchell filed the lawsuit in federal court in Amarillo, where only one conservative judge, Matthew Kacsmaryk, hears almost all cases.

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