Trump to target Planned Parenthood with new abortion curbs

The Trump administration is expected to announce Friday that it will dramatically change the federal family planning program to prohibit health care providers who accept the funds from mentioning abortion and defund Planned Parenthood.

The changes to the Title X program -which are expected to be announced in new regulations – would mark the Trump administration’s latest win for social conservatives who are looking to prohibit access to abortion.

Health care providers who accept Title X funding would be banned from mentioning abortion to their patients and would not be allowed to perform abortions – regardless of the funding source – at the same facilities that provide Title X services.

Conservatives hail the changes as the "defunding" of Planned Parenthood because the organization is a prominent recipient of Title X money, receiving $50 million to $60 million in annual funding through the $286 million program.

But critics say it will amount to a "domestic gag rule" – prohibiting health care providers from mentioning abortion in the exam room.

“This ‘gag rule’ is not only unconscionable, but it undermines medical ethics by forcing health care professionals to withhold accurate and timely medical information from patients,” said Jenn Conti, a fellow with Physicians for Reproductive Health. “If I can’t mention the word ‘abortion,’ then I am not providing my pregnant patients who want to know all of their options with complete, accurate, unbiased medical information.”

They fear that the ban would prevent a health care provider from mentioning abortion even in a life-or-death situation, such as with a pregnant woman who also has cancer.

“This is an attempt to take away women’s basic rights, period,” said Dawn Laguens, executive vice president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, which promised to fight the ban. “Under this rule, people will not get the health care they need. They won’t get birth control, cancer screenings, STD testing and treatment, or even general women’s health exams.”

A legal challenge is certain. Title X grantees including Planned Parenthood have already sued over previous administration changes to the program that put a greater focus on natural family planning versus access to all FDA-approved forms of contraception.

But there is legal precedent for the Trump administration actions. The Reagan administration imposed similar Title X changes that went all the way to the Supreme Court, where they were upheld. The changes were never implemented, though: repeated delays lasted until the Clinton administration ended them permanently.

The rule change will be hailed as a major win for conservatives, who weren’t able to get defunding through Congress. Anti-abortion lawmakers tried to do so as part of last year’s Obamacare repeal effort but were unsuccessful. Dozens of Republicans wrote to administration officials last month calling for the abortion regulations.

“It would send a powerful signal,” Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) said Thursday before the announcement was made. “It’s actually the president outpacing Congress on what we should be doing. No taxpayer dollars should go to an organization that either conducts or promotes abortion.”

President Donald Trump – who in 2016 was viewed with a lot of suspicion by conservatives – is due to speak at the anti-abortion group Susan B. Anthony List’s annual gala on Tuesday.

"President Trump has shown decisive leadership, delivering on a key promise to pro-life voters who worked so hard to elect him," SBA List’s Marjorie Dannenfelser said in a statement. "This is a major victory which will energize the grassroots as we head into the critical midterm elections.”

The original story can be found here.