{"id":430573,"date":"2026-09-09T11:46:29","date_gmt":"2026-09-09T11:46:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/430573\/"},"modified":"2026-09-09T11:46:29","modified_gmt":"2026-09-09T11:46:29","slug":"privately-funded-program-expands-access-to-birth-control-in-el-paso","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/430573\/","title":{"rendered":"Privately funded program expands access to birth control in El Paso"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">EL PASO, Texas (<a data-ylk=\"slk:KTSM;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;link&quot;,&quot;yLinkElementType&quot;:&quot;article_link&quot;}\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ktsm.com\/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">KTSM<\/a>) \u2013\u00a0Planned Parenthood of Greater Texas has launched a new privately funded program aimed at expanding access to birth control for eligible patients in El Paso.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The 12-month Birth Control for All\/Toma Control initiative is supported by more than $1 million from private donors. The funding will allow qualifying patients to receive birth control at no cost.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;We are so thrilled to roll out this initiative,&#8221; Cecili Chadwick, philanthropy and community affairs officer for Planned Parenthood of Greater Texas, said. &#8220;It is a $1 million investment in the El Paso community to provide birth control, regardless of cost.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">To qualify, patients must be uninsured and have an income at or below 200% of the federal poverty level.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The program includes hormonal and nonhormonal birth control methods, including longer-acting options such as intrauterine devices and implants. Patients can also receive pain management for IUD and implant insertions and removals.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The initiative follows the loss of $650,000 in federal funding for Planned Parenthood&#8217;s El Paso health center. In March 2025, Planned Parenthood of Greater Texas was notified that its federal Title X grant was being withheld.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Planned Parenthood said the funding had supported birth control and other health care services in El Paso. According to the organization, IUD insertions at its El Paso center dropped 40% following the loss.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Rep. Veronica Escobar said the private donations will help offset some of the federal cuts.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;Cutting programs and funding really hurts all of us,&#8221; Escobar said. &#8220;It hurts our economy. It hurts employers, it hurts families.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Chadwick said the initiative is intended to help El Pasoans who may otherwise be unable to afford their preferred form of birth control.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;We have really high rates of uninsured populations in El Paso. We also have high rates of poverty,&#8221; Chadwick said. &#8220;This initiative allows for people who do not have the resources to access birth control to have choices about when and if to start a family.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Planned Parenthood officials said the program is already in place. Patients may contact the organization&#8217;s El Paso health center to schedule a consultation and determine whether they qualify.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">For more information, visit Planned Parenthood&#8217;s <a data-ylk=\"slk:website;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;link&quot;,&quot;yLinkElementType&quot;:&quot;article_link&quot;}\" href=\"https:\/\/www.plannedparenthood.org\/planned-parenthood-greater-texas\/patient-resources\/toma-control\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">website<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.<a data-ylk=\"slk:For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTSM 9 News.;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;link&quot;,&quot;yLinkElementType&quot;:&quot;article_link&quot;}\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ktsm.com\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTSM 9 News.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) \u2013\u00a0Planned Parenthood of Greater Texas has launched a new privately funded program aimed at&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":430574,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[149508,149509,149510,57069,138,140,139,149511,90104,141787,105508,27,2569],"class_list":["post-430573","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-el-paso","tag-birth-control","tag-cecili-chadwick","tag-control-initiative","tag-el","tag-el-paso","tag-el-paso-headlines","tag-el-paso-news","tag-eligible-patients","tag-federal-poverty-level","tag-parenthood","tag-planned-parenthood-of-greater-texas","tag-texas","tag-veronica-escobar"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/430573","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=430573"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/430573\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/430574"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=430573"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=430573"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=430573"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}