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The Trump administration announced Friday it would ban organizations offering abortion services from receiving federal funds for family planning, which could take millions of dollars out of Planned Parenthood and direct it to anti-religious groups. abortion.
It is almost certain that the new federal rule will be challenged in court. Clinics will be able to talk to patients about abortion, but not where they can get one. And clinics will no longer be advising women on all reproductive options, including abortion, which will make anti-abortion providers eligible for funding.
The rule, which has been awaited for months, is the most recent measure taken by the Trump administration to steer federal health programs in a conservative direction. The administration has expanded the ability of employers to raise religious or moral objections to the requirement of the Affordable Care Act to provide employees with contraceptive insurance. He channeled funding for teen pregnancy prevention programs and family planning grants to programs that focus on sexual abstinence before contraception.
Some of these changes are being prosecuted as a result of lawsuits filed by reproductive rights groups, but there is broad support for the new policies among evangelicals, which form an important part of the political base. Of the president.
The rule announced Friday is not a massive withdrawal from Planned Parenthood, a long-standing goal of the Conservatives. Organizations receiving money through the federal family planning program, called Title X, will still be able to perform abortions, but they will have to do so in an institution separate from their other operations and comply with the new obligation to do not refer patients to it.
For years, it has been forbidden for organizations receiving federal funds to use these funds to fund abortion services. The new rule goes even further by ordering them to keep separate books for their abortion operations.
Many women's organizations have stated that the new requirements would infringe on the responsibility of health care providers to fully counsel patients on reproductive health issues.
"Trump's domestic gag rule hurts women more than one way," said Stephanie Schriock, president of EMILY's List, in a statement. "It effectively removes Title X, forces doctors to lie and forbids them to refer patients for abortion, and prevents women from accessing Planned Parenthood services."
Anti-abortion organizations presented the regulation as a long-sought victory. "The finalized" life protection rule "draws a clear dividing line between abortion and family planning programs," said Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, in a statement, stating that the rule would relax the principle of "tens of millions of dollars of taxes."
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Title X provides $ 286 million in funding for programs that provide services such as birth control, breast cancer screening and cervical cancer screening and treatment for sexually transmitted diseases. These programs serve approximately 4 million patients each year, many of whom are poor, in more than 4,000 clinics. Approximately 40% of these clinics are managed by Planned Parenthood, which receives nearly $ 60 million each year under the family planning program.
"In many parts of the country, Planned Parenthood is the only provider participating in the program," said Dr. Leana Wen, President of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America.
She added, "Patients expect their doctors to speak to them honestly, answer their questions, help them when needed. Imagine if the Trump administration was preventing doctors from talking about insulin to our diabetic patients. That would never happen. Reproductive health care should not be different.
The new rule is not the first time that a Republican administration is trying to withhold funds for family planning from organizations that provide abortion counseling or services. In 1988, President Ronald Reagan banned clinics from recommending patients for abortions, but also advising them about abortions.
This rule was challenged until the Supreme Court, which upheld it in 1991, under the administration of President George H. Buisson. But the Bush administration did not implement it and in 1993, Bill Clinton was sworn in as president and abolished power.
Conservative lawmakers welcomed the new rule as a long-standing return to Reagan policy, and some were particularly pleased with the prospect that anti-abortion health care providers could now be eligible for federal family planning funding.
"It is important to note that faith-based health organizations will no longer be forced to compromise their pro-life principles to receive government funding," said House Republican Whip representative Steve Scalise.
But several medical organizations have predicted that the new rule will eventually leave a large number of patients, particularly low-income and minority women, without access to basic care.
Dr. Niva Lubin-Johnson, president of the National Medical Association, who represents African-American doctors and their patients, said that if Planned Parenthood loses funding, other providers supported by the program should increase their workload on average 70%. one hundred percent occupy the 1.6 million people who currently benefit from such services through Planned Parenthood.
"Many providers have already stated that they would be unable to fill this gap," said Dr. Lubin-Johnson. "This rule will have disastrous and disproportionate consequences for African-American patients, who account for 22% of people accessing health care through Title X."
Most of the changes required by the new regulations will be phased in within 60 days of being published in the Federal Register. Compliance with the financial separation requirement takes effect 120 days after publication and clinics have one year to comply with physical separation requirements.
Robert Pear contributed to Washington reports.
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