Pro-abortion President Barack Obama has proposed a new rule that would essentially prohibit states from defunding the Planned Parenthood abortion business. And pro-life people who oppose it need to take action immediately.
The proposed rule from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) could prevent states from blocking Title X funding (federal dollars for family planning services) to abortion companies like Planned Parenthood.
“This latest stunt from President Obama’s Department of Health and Human Services should surprise absolutely no one,” Rep. Diane Black told LifeNews.com previously about it.
“We’ve known all along that the Obama Administration will go to untold lengths to protect its friends in the big abortion industry. After all, this Administration has previously used backdoor maneuvers to line Planned Parenthood’s pockets with Obamacare navigator grants and praised the abortion provider’s ‘high ethical standard’ even after it was caught trafficking in baby body parts,” Black said.
She continued: “Now, they have taken the unprecedented step of thwarting states’ rights with a shady proposed rule change that prevents states from funding the providers who will best serve their citizens. In the coming days, I intend to lead a letter expressing the deep concerns of Members of Congress on this proposal, but we won’t stop there. We must use the full force of Congress and the grassroots strength of the national pro-life movement to defeat this absurd rule and prevent the Obama Administration from acting unilaterally to carry out political favors and prop up a scandal-ridden abortion provider.”
Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council says pro-life people need to speak up now against the proposal.
The Obama administration’s Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has issued a new proposed regulation blocking states from defunding Planned Parenthood from federal Title X family planning funds. The HHS regulation would effectively create a backdoor handout for the abortion industry.
Title X is a federal grant program that provides funds for family planning services. Many states have passed laws to exclude such funds from going to abortion providers like Planned Parenthood. While many Title X grants go to private entities, many states are the main grant recipient of these funds. Those states realize that money is fungible. When Planned Parenthood or other abortion clinics receive Title X grant funding, it frees resources for them to spend more on abortion. The Title X law itself prevents funds from being used in programs where abortion is a method of family planning, but nowhere does the law say that grant recipients must include abortion providers. HHS’ new rule is an executive overreach that is simply without basis in the law.
States should be free to prioritize awarding Title X funding to health care providers they find most effective at offering comprehensive healthcare services, including family planning services, without being forced to comply with a new federal mandate to fill the coffers of abortion clinics like Planned Parenthood. Some states, in particular, have chosen to prioritize these family planning funds to health clinics and community health centers that also seamlessly offer a full range of healthcare services including family planning, but which also do not participate in abortion.
Big abortion groups like Planned Parenthood have issued alerts so pro-abortion individuals have submitted comments to HHS. We need pro-life people like you to provide comments urging HHS to reject this extra legal regulation.
Recommended Actions to Take Immediately: Please submit your comment directly to HHS on or before Friday, October 7 to tell HHS to stop punishing states for defunding Planned Parenthood.
Your comments can be filed electronically here.
Here’s an example f how Obama;s proposed rule would prevent states from revoking taxpayer funding for the abortion company Planned Parenthood.
Under current state law, the state of Tennessee doles out Title X funding provided by HHS to county health departments, who then determine appropriate sub-grantees. All 95 counties have identified community health centers and other providers aside from Planned Parenthood who meet all Title X eligibility criteria to receive this funding, effectively cutting off Planned Parenthood’s access to Title X funds in the state of Tennessee.
The proposed rule from HHS cites other examples of states such as Florida and Texas enacting or attempting to enact similar measures. The rule would attempt to undermine such state laws, explaining that it “precludes project recipients [states] from using criteria in their selection of subrecipients that are unrelated to the ability to deliver services to program beneficiaries in an effective manner.”
