Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals Ruling on Deanda v. Becerra

March 13, 2024

Yesterday the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals released their ruling in Deanda v. Becerra, a case that has blocked confidential access to contraception for young people at Title X clinics in Texas since December 2022.

The ruling affirmed the district court’s decision that Title X’s statute does not preempt Texas’s state parental consent law. However, the ruling also reversed the district court’s vacatur of the second sentence of § 59.10(b) of the 2021 Title X regulation. Rule 59.10(b) prohibits Title X providers from requiring parental consent for minors to receive contraceptive care and also prohibits Title X providers from notifying a parent or guardian of a minor’s request for contraceptive care. The Fifth Circuit did not address whether Rule 59.10(b) itself preempts Texas’s state parental consent law, leaving that significant legal question for another day.

The ruling from the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals is, therefore, not a clear statement on whether minors in Texas can legally access confidential contraceptive care without parental consent in Title X clinics or whether Title X providers in Texas must continue to comply with Texas’s state parental consent law.

As Every Body Texas continues to analyze the full implications of the ruling and seeks guidance from the federal administration regarding the ruling, we believe the clinics in our network should continue operating as they have for the last 14 months since the initial December 2022 district court ruling.

“While we agree with the court’s decision to keep in place the 2021 Title X rule that prohibits clinics from requiring parental consent, we remain concerned that the ambiguity of the ruling continues to impose barriers for young people in Texas who are trying to access birth control.” said Stephanie LeBleu, Title X Project Director.

“Minors have been unable to access confidential contraceptive care in our network of Title X clinics for more than a year,” said LeBleu. “Title X encourages young people to involve a parent or guardian in their healthcare decision-making. However, not all teens have a trusted adult with whom they can have those important conversations, and they turn to their healthcare provider for confidential care.”

Every Body Texas has served as the statewide administrator of Title X since 2013 and funds a network of more than 30 agencies with over 150 clinic sites across the state. Nearly 200,000 Texas residents access critical preventive healthcare services like birth control, STI testing and treatment, and testing for breast and cervical cancer from a clinic funded by Every Body Texas each year.

Birth control access is critical for young people striving to make the best decisions for their futures. The ability to decide if, when, and how to become a parent and otherwise safely make decisions about your own body is a right that must be afforded to all people.

At Every Body Texas, we continue to fight for a world where all people can access safe, high-quality, unbiased sexual and reproductive healthcare.

For additional information please contact Mimi Garcia at mimi.garcia@everybodytexas.org.