As a congressman, Rep. Tom Price voted for several measures to restrict abortion and birth control.
As President-elect Donald Trump's HHS secretary, Price—a conservative lawmaker from Georgia and a former orthopedic surgeon—he's almost certain to follow through with those restrictions.
Price has voted several times to defund Planned Parenthood. In his new role, he can limit or cut off funding for the organization, which last year benefited from nearly $287 million in federal support for family planning and preventive healthcare such as contraception and pregnancy screenings.
If confirmed by the Senate, Price will hold the nation's top healthcare policy post. He will control Medicaid and Medicare and will make decisions determining funding for providers and researchers across the country.
Planned Parenthood Federation of America President Cecile Richards Tuesday released a statement saying that "Price poses a grave threat to women's health in this country."
Major medical groups like the American Medical Association, the Association of American Medical Colleges and the American Hospital Association cited his medical experience as an important qualification to lead HHS. But others disagreed.
“His voting record is just breathtakingly, across-the-board concerning for women's health and families,” said Dr. Anne Davis, consulting medical director at Physicians for Reproductive Health.
In 2005, Price co-sponsored a bill that would have defined human life as beginning at the moment of conception, which would have outlawed abortion and many forms of contraception. He also has supported a nationwide ban on terminating pregnancies beyond 20 weeks. Opponents pointed out that most abortions that take place after 20 weeks occur because the life of the mother or fetus is in danger.
Price has voted to allow medical professionals' personal beliefs to guide their decisions on what kind of healthcare services they'll provide. He also supports the right of insurers and providers to deny birth control based on religious or moral principles.
"As HHS secretary, he will play a key role in developing a robust healthcare reform proposal that protects life and consciences, while promoting options for low-income individuals and families," said Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the Susan B. Anthony List, a group that supports politicians who oppose abortion.
Indeed, as one of the few Republican lawmakers who have drafted a plan to replace the ACA, Price will play a key role in dismantling the healthcare law, which required health plans to provide preventive care with no out-of-pocket cost to patients. The Obama administration defined birth control as a preventive service, but that provision can easily be undone by not enforcing it.
And Price earlier this year said the government shouldn't provide birth control because “not a single” woman in the U.S. has trouble getting it.
That contradicts data from the Guttmacher Institute, which found more than 20 million women in 2014 were in need of publicly funded family planning services.
Some of Price's voting history raises broader public health concerns.
“While it's good to have someone with a medical background to be nominated for that job, regrettably Dr. Price's legislative history speaks negatively to the things that we here care about in the public health world,” said Dr. Georges Benjamin, executive director for the American Public Health Association.
Price was against expanding the Children's Health Insurance Program to some 6 million uninsured children. He also voted against the Mental Health and Addiction Equity Act of 2008, which requires insurers to pay equally for behavioral healthcare services and physical care.
Price has also voted down laws that would restrict gun purchases, including a semiautomatic weapons ban that was passed in the District of Columbia. Some believe that will make it likely Price will not advocate for Congress to lift a federal ban on funding research into gun safety.
Still, some saw they're optimistic, given Price's history in working across the aisle.
“I would choose somebody else,” said Gerard Anderson, professor of health policy and management and international health at the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health. “But if you're going to choose someone who is quite a conservative, he is a conservative who listens to all sides of an issue.”
(This story was updated on Nov. 30, 2016.)
