In one of the biggest wins for the pro-life community this decade, Planned Parenthood has just entirely abandoned federal funding through the Title X program after the Trump administration put into place a rule on the funds that prohibits abortion referrals.
Trump’s White House had forbade clinics accepting Title X federal funding from referring women to abortion clinics or giving them information on where to find a physician that would perform an abortion.
Planned Parenthood, which is probably the biggest organization in America that steers pregnant women towards aborting their babies, is not willing to comply with the new restriction, so all of the $60 million annually they have received from the federal government for too long has now been completely cut off!
Check out the breaking news:
Planned Parenthood announced their withdrawal from Title X on Twitter:
Democrats running for 2020 aren't too happy with Trump on this one!
Take a look at what candidates like Kamala Harris, Elizabeth Warren, and Beto O'Rourke are saying about it:
The New York Times has more details on the huge blow to the abortion industry:
Planned Parenthood said Monday that it would withdraw from the federal family planning program that provides birth control and other health services to poor women rather than comply with a new Trump administration rule that forbids referrals to doctors who can perform abortions.
Planned Parenthood receives about $60 million annually through the federal program, known as Title X. The funds have enabled the group to provide more than 1.5 million low-income women each year with services like birth control and pregnancy tests, as well as screenings for sexually transmitted diseases and breast and cervical cancer. In some rural communities, Planned Parenthood is the only provider of such services.
In states like Utah, where Planned Parenthood is the only organization receiving Title X funds, and Minnesota, where Planned Parenthood serves 90 percent of the Title X patients, those seeking care may face long waits for appointments, the group said, while other patients may delay care or go without. Over all, Planned Parenthood gets more Title X money than any single group, and it serves 40 percent of all Title X patients.
The group’s decision to stop accepting the money was cheered by anti-abortion groups that have long sought to deprive Planned Parenthood of federal support. “It is a long-awaited victory that will energize the pro-life grass roots,” said Jeanne Mancini, president of the March for Life.
Planned Parenthood has continually received Title X money since the program was enacted in 1970 during the Nixon administration.
Alexis McGill Johnson, acting president of Planned Parenthood, on Monday accused the administration of forcing Planned Parenthood out of the Title X program. “When you have an unethical rule that will limit what providers can tell our patients, it becomes really important that we not agree to be in the program,” she said.
The Department of Health and Human Services said in a statement Monday that groups that refused to comply with the rule “are now blaming the government for their own actions.” The agency added: “They are abandoning their obligations to serve their patients under the program.”
The rule says that while clinics accepting Title X funds may continue to talk to patients about abortion, they may not refer women to an abortion provider or suggest where to obtain an abortion.
Planned Parenthood and many other organizations, including the American Medical Association, say the restriction would force physicians and clinics to withhold medical information from patients, would interfere with the doctor-patient relationship and could deny pregnant women the range of options available to them.
“We will continue to defend the right for patients to talk freely with their physicians about all their health care options,” Dr. Patrice A. Harris, president of the American Medical Association, said in an email.
The Trump administration has steadily shifted federal health programs toward conservative preferences like promoting abstinence in teen pregnancy prevention programs and allowing exemptions to insurance coverage of birth control for employers with religious objections.
CBS News also stated:
Planned Parenthood said all of its clinics will formally leave Title X, the marquee federal program dedicated to providing birth control to low-income women. A change to the program last year requires beneficiaries to comply with a so-called "gag order" on abortion services, something that Planned Parenthood said it isn't willing to do. The clinic's exit will result in a loss of millions of federal dollars.
In a conference call with reporters on Monday, Planned Parenthood's new leader, Alexis McGill Johnson, announced all the health care clinic's affiliates would be sending letters to the Department of Health and Human Services Monday, formally announcing their resignation from Title X. She warned that without Planned Parenthood, low-income women in rural areas would struggle to find affordable birth control options.
"For too many people struggling to make ends meet, it may be that they may go without care," Johnson said on the call.
Planned Parenthood leadership declined to answer exactly how much revenue the organization would lose due to the exit. "Our position is that this isn't about Planned Parenthood's budget, it's about our patients," Johnson said.
Title X was created in 1970 to provide affordable reproductive care to women who otherwise couldn't afford it. Last year, more than four million people relied on Title X for health care services, 41% of whom received services at Planned Parenthood, according to the health clinic.
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