Trump Administration Moves To Withdraw Funding From Clinics That Provide Abortions
The Trump administration's proposal meets a key conservative goal: to withhold some federal funding for Planned Parenthood. The proposed rules now under review would require facilities receiving Title X grants to be physically separate from those that perform abortion; would eliminate the requirement that women with unintended pregnancies be counseled on a full range of reproductive options; and would ban abortion referrals.
The Wall Street Journal:
Clinics That Provide On-Site Abortions Stand To Lose Millions Under New Plan
Health centers and programs that provide on-site abortions, or refer women for the procedure, could lose millions of dollars in federal family-planning funds under a new plan advanced by the Trump administration Friday. The proposal targets grants given out under a program known as Title X. The agency would require a separation—both financial and physical—between the grants and any facility or program where abortions are performed, supported or referred as a method of family planning. (Armour, 5/18)
Kaiser Health News:
Trump Proposes Cutting Planned Parenthood Funds. What Does That Mean?
The planned revival of a policy dating to Ronald Reagan’s presidency may finally present a way for President Donald Trump to fulfill his campaign promise to “defund” Planned Parenthood. Or at least to evict it from the federal family planning program, where it provides care to more than 40 percent of that program’s 4 million patients. Congress last year failed to wipe out funding for Planned Parenthood, because the bill faced overwhelming Democratic objections and would not have received the 60 votes needed to pass in the Senate. (Rovner, 5/19)
The Associated Press:
Trump Thrusts Abortion Fight Into Crucial Midterm Elections
The Trump administration acted Friday to bar taxpayer-funded family planning clinics from referring women for abortions, energizing its conservative political base ahead of crucial midterm elections while setting the stage for new legal battles. The Health and Human Services Department sent its proposal to rewrite the rules to the White House, setting in motion a regulatory process that could take months. Scant on details, an administration overview of the plan said it would echo a Reagan-era rule by banning abortion referrals by federally funded clinics and forbidding them from locating in facilities that also provide abortions. (Alonso-Zaldivar and Colvin, 5/18)
News outlets also covered state-based reaction to the change —
NPR:
Health Care Providers Say Title X Change Would Restrict Access To Family Planning Services
Family planning clinics in Texas say that the Trump administration's proposed rules will further hamper their ability to provide family planning services in a state that has high teen pregnancy rates. (Lopez, 5/18)
Boston Globe:
Trump Administration Seeks To Bar Family Planning Funds From Centers That Provide Abortion
The Trump administration continued to target abortion rights Friday, proposing to bar federal family-planning funds from health centers in Massachusetts and other states that either provide abortion or that refer patients to clinics that do.In Massachusetts, the Title X program that Trump wants to restrict currently provides more than $6 million to subsidize care at 93 health centers, including four Planned Parenthood branches. (Ebbert, 5/19)
KCUR:
Planned Parenthood Says Abortion Rule Would Affect 10,000 Patients In Missouri
Already facing highly restrictive abortion laws in Missouri and Kansas, Planned Parenthood Great Plains now confronts the prospect of losing its federal family planning funds if a proposed Trump administration rule goes into effect. The administration unveiled a proposal Friday that would make clinics that provide abortion services or referrals ineligible to participate in Title X, which helps fund birth control, cancer screenings and treatment for sexually transmitted infections. (Margolies, 5/18)
San Francisco Chronicle:
1 Million Low-Income Californians Could Be Hurt By Trump Family Planning Rules
More than 1 million low-income Californians could see new barriers to reproductive care under a proposal that the Department of Health and Human Services sent to the White House Friday. The proposed rule would strip federal funding from family planning clinics that provide abortions or refer patients to places that do. (Thadani, 5/18)
Houston Chronicle:
Trump’s Anticipated Abortion Rule Could Reduce Access In Texas
The Trump administration’s plan to yank federal funding from clinics that provide or recommend abortions would make the controversial procedure even more more difficult to get in Texas. That’s what people on both sides of the abortion debate are saying as they await rules from President Donald Trump his staff said will to mirror a Reagan-era policy that survived a legal challenge but was never fully implemented. (Zelinski, 5/18)
Concord Monitor:
State Providers Brace For Title X ‘Gag Rule’ Over Abortion Funding
Exactly when the White House makes an expected announcement to pare back funding from abortion clinics remains unclear. But some New Hampshire reproductive health providers are already sounding the alarm. On Friday, news reports swirled that the Trump administration will propose a rule to withhold “Title X” federal funding for healthcare organizations that perform abortions – as well as those who make referrals. Under the rule, clinics whose doctors provided recommendations of abortion services could lose their funding, while those that already do would be cut off unless they stopped. (DeWitt, 5/18)
In other abortion-related news —
The Star Tribune:
About-Face On Abortion Fellowship Leaves U With Whiplash
Bowing to pressure from conservative students and lawmakers, the University of Minnesota has backed out of a grant-funded fellowship to expand the practice and training of reproductive health and abortion services. The fellowship, approved by one faculty member last fall, became political dynamite this spring after triggering outrage among abortion opponents and some lawmakers just as the Legislature was considering a budget request from the U and a vacancy on the Board of Regents. (Olson, 5/19)
On a separate topic -
The Hill:
Adult Entertainment Industry Group Trolls Trump With Letter Explaining Difference Between HIV And HPV
The top trade association for the adult entertainment industry is trolling President Trump with an open letter explaining the difference between HIV and HPV. The letter from the Free Speech Coalition comes after recently released footage of Bill Gates revealed his claim that Trump had asked him in two previous meetings to explain the difference between the two viruses. (Thomsen, 5/19)
