Shaheen Statement on Teresa Manning’s Appointment to Oversee Family Planning Program

(Washington DC) – U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) released the following statement in response to President Trump’s appointment of Teresa Manning to oversee the Title X Family Planning Program, which supports family planning and teen pregnancy prevention and care programs for low-income Americans. Manning, an anti-choice activist who has previously said that contraception “doesn’t work,” will become the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Population Affairs at the Department of Health and Human Services.

“Teresa Manning has spent her career denying science and peddling fiction about family planning and abortion. Her appointment to oversee our nation’s family planning program is yet another step in the Trump Administration’s dangerous campaign to roll back women’s reproductive rights and undermine the immense progress we have made to reduce teen pregnancy and abortions, both at an all-time low, in part because of funding through the Title X family planning program. We need someone in this key position who understands how to reduce teen pregnancies, the importance of empowering women through access to family planning services, and who is committed to reducing the number of unplanned pregnancies in our country. Make no mistake, family planning is not simply a health issue – this is an economic issue for all women and their families.”