Trump administration issues rule to strip millions from Planned Parenthood
By ALICE MIRANDA OLLSTEIN
02/22/2019 01:33 PM EST
Updated 02/22/2019 05:34 PM EST

The Trump administration issued a final rule on Friday that could effectively cut off tens of millions of federal family planning dollars to Planned Parenthood and steer some of that funding towards anti-abortion, faith-based care providers.

While the revamp of the Title X program does not accomplish the full defunding of Planned Parenthood that Republicans have called for, it is a major step in that direction, and marks another major policy win for social conservatives looking to prohibit access to abortion.

Under the rule, clinics would still have to provide an array of contraceptive services but could partner or subcontract with groups that stress abstinence only or natural family planning. It would also bar Planned Parenthood and other health care providers that accept the funding from making any abortion referrals or performing abortions — regardless of the funding source — at the same facilities where they provide Title X services like birth control, mammograms and cancer screenings.

If not put on hold by a court injunction, the rule will go into effect 60 days after it is published in the federal register in the coming days.

Planned Parenthood executives said they will fight in court to block or overturn the rule, and indicated they won't apply for Title X funding if it does go into effect.

Under the rule, clinics would still have to provide an array of contraceptive services but could partner or subcontract with groups that stress abstinence only or natural family planning. It would also bar Planned Parenthood and other health care providers that accept the funding from making any abortion referrals or performing abortions — regardless of the funding source — at the same facilities where they provide Title X services like birth control, mammograms and cancer screenings.

If not put on hold by a court injunction, the rule will go into effect 60 days after it is published in the federal register in the coming days.

Planned Parenthood executives said they will fight in court to block or overturn the rule, and indicated they won't apply for Title X funding if it does go into effect.

"Planned Parenthood cannot participate in a program that would force our providers to compromise our ethics," said President Leana Wen in a call with reporters. The group sent an email to supporters on Friday soliciting donations to make up for a potential shortfall of tens of millions of dollars.

Critics of the new policy, which is bound to be litigated in federal court, say it would amount to a "domestic gag rule" that prohibits health care providers from fully counseling their patients on their reproductive choices. Abortion rights groups have already sued the Trump administration over the way grant funding under the program is being distributed, arguing the criteria improperly stress abstinence over access to all FDA-approved forms of contraception.

Several state officials, including Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra and Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, have announced an intent to sue over the new policy.

Conservatives are hailing the new Title X guidance as a de facto defunding of Planned Parenthood because the organization receives between $50 million and $60 million per year through the $286 million program. The organization was already barred from using that federal funding to provide abortions, but the new ule would require financial and physical separation of their abortion providers and other health care services funded by Title X. The bulk of Planned Parenthood's government funding, however, comes from state Medicaid programs, which are unaffected by this rule.

"The Title X program was not intended to be a slush fund for abortion businesses like Planned Parenthood," said Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the anti-abortion group Susan B. Anthony List, in a statement praising the rule.

The Title X cuts could also hit other abortion providers that take Title X funds, but would hit Planned Parenthood the hardest. The network of clinics serves 41 percent of the 4 million low-income people, most of them people of color younger than 30, who currently rely on Title X for their reproductive health care.
Donald Trump

Unlike a Reagan-era version of the rule, health care providers in the program would be able to talk about abortion under the new guidance, but couldn't make a referral for the procedure. Supporters say the distinction means there is no "gag" on providers, but opponents say that makes little difference.

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https://www.hhs.gov/opa/sites/default/fi...-final-rule.pdf