Issues@Hand

AFA initiatives, Christian activism, news briefs

May 2019 – On February 22, the Trump administration finalized a rule cutting Title X family planning funds to clinics that provide or refer for abortions.

The HHS fact sheet concerning the rule, established in 1970, states, “From the start, Congress was clear that Title X funds cannot be used to support abortion.” However, Planned Parenthood, the biggest abortion provider in the country, has been receiving $60 million of Title X funds annually.

Under the rule, known as the Protect Life Rule, no funds are provided without “clear financial and physical separation between Title X funded projects and programs or facilities where abortion is a method of family planning.” In addition, the rule prohibits “referral for abortion as a method of family planning. [It] does not bar nondirective counseling on abortion, but eliminates the requirement that Title X providers offer abortion counseling 
and referral.”

The new rule was set to take effect 60 days from the date published in the Federal Register.

According to Jeanne Mancini, president of the March for Life, the Title X program, which disperses $286 million annually, will now offer a wider range of services, life-affirming options, and better regulatory oversight at federally qualified health centers, which outnumber abortion centers 20 to 1.

The new rule does not, however, affect Planned Parenthood’s and other abortion clinics’ ability to file claims and receive payment from Medicaid – also taxpayer funds.

cnsnews.com, 2/26/19