Trump blocks $60 million from Planned Parenthood
New rule effectively eliminates some taxpayer funding
Art Moore
President Trump issued a final federal rule Friday that could deprive abortion giant Planned Parenthood of $60 million in taxpayer funding annually.
The Title X Protect Life Rule is Planned Parenthood’s second biggest source of taxpayer funding, after Medicaid.
Planned Parenthood received about $500 million a year from various government sources.
The new rule prevents federal funding from going to family planning centers that refer or perform abortions while providing Title X services such as birth control, mammograms and cancer screenings.
“This is a huge step forward in the wake of congressional gridlock on defunding Planned Parenthood,” said Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the pro-life SBA List.
“President Trump has stepped in and taken decisive action where Congress has failed us.
Dannenfelser said her group was one of 86 that worked with allies in Congress to generate letters signed by 153 House members and 41 Senators urging the president to propose new Title X rules.
She said the policy win is in response to promises SBA List and other pro-life groups secured from then-candidate Trump to defund Planned Parenthood.
“When congressional action lagged, we worked with the administration on securing this decisive executive action,” she said.
The rule is expected to be challenged in federal court.
But Dannenfelser noted that the Supreme Court ruled in favor of similar Title X regulations issued by President Reagan.
Critics of the rule, Politico reported, contend it will amount to a “domestic gag rule” that prohibits health care providers counseling patients on all of their “reproductive choices.”
“This rule intentionally strikes at the heart of the patient-provider relationship, inserting political ideology into a family planning visit, which will frustrate and ultimately discourage patients from seeking the health care they need,” said Clare Coleman, president and CEO of the National Family Planning & Reproductive Health Association.
Politico reported Washington Gov. Jay Inslee vowed to explore challenges to the rule change, contending it “endangers tens of thousands of Washingtonians and millions of Americans.”
