Trump administration declares Title X abortion restrictions will go into effect immediately – Washington Examiner

The Trump administration announced Monday that taxpayer-funded family planning clinics are prohibited from referring women to abortion providers as a part of the family planning program Title X.

The Protect Life Rule, which many abortion rights advocates call a “gag rule,” will not only halt abortion referrals, but will also mandate that no abortion provider receives taxpayer funding. This rule, which applies to all Planned Parenthood clinics, is seen as a blow to abortion rights groups that provide health services to low-income women.

The anti-abortion group Susan B. Anthony List praised the Trump administration Monday, saying, “Without reducing Title X funding by a dime, the Protect Life Rule simply draws a bright line between abortion and family planning, stopping abortion businesses like Planned Parenthood from treating Title X as their private slush fund.”

Last week, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a June 20 decision to lift injunctions that had blocked the rule from being enforced. In a Monday statement, Susan B. Anthony List said the group is “confident that the Trump administration will ultimately prevail and grateful that, in the meantime, the Protect Life Rule can immediately begin saving lives.”

Title X provides about $260 million in grants annually to clinics, including Planned Parenthood affiliates, which provide services to over 1.5 million women nationwide.

Abortion rights groups have decried the administration’s restrictions on abortion access, which includes pending litigation about whether an employer can refuse to provide contraception coverage on religious grounds, as parts of an “ideological agenda.”