A federal judge has blocked a pro-life rule instituted by President Donald Trump protecting Americans from having to fund the Planned Parenthood abortion business. The rule shut down one of the many avenues for federal taxpayer funds that Planned Parenthood has accessed over the years.
Title X grants fund family planning services for low-income individuals and, to direct tax dollars to legitimate organizations and away from the Planned Parenthood abortion company, the Trump administration finalized a new rule that prohibits recipients from providing or promoting abortions.
The “Protect Life” rule requires Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers to completely separate their abortion businesses from their taxpayer-funded services. That mean housing their family planning services in separate buildings with separate staff from their abortion businesses and a denial of funds if they fail to do so. Planned Parenthoodrefused to comply and lost its federal funding.
But the abortion giant, several states and the city of Baltimore sued to overturn the Trump rule. Baltimore city officials argued that the rule would hurt their residents’ access to health care even though the funds would be redirected to legitimate heath care entities.
Late Friday, a federal judge blocked the pro-life rule Trump issued:
The Trump administration may not enforce a rule prohibiting family planning service providers who receive taxpayer money from talking to clients about abortion, a federal court in Maryland said.
The Health and Human Services Department acted arbitrarily and capriciously when it enacted a final rule that was “inadequately justified and objectively unreasonable,” the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland said in granting the city partial summary judgment Feb. 14.
The court permanently enjoined the rule’s enforcement in Maryland.
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Other federal judges have also blocked the rule and the Trump administration is expected to appeal those rulings to the federal appellate court level.
The rule doesn’t require doctors or nurses to withhold information. It merely prevents Planned Parenthood from promoting abortion using taxpayer funds.
The abortion chain sees about 1.5 million a year through Title X, and its services through the program, including cancer screenings, birth control, etc., have been dropping steadily for years, according to its own annual reports. Meanwhile, its abortion numbers have been growing – a clear indication of its true focus.
Planned Parenthood receives about $60 million a year through Title X. However, the first grant announcement under the new rule showed a $44 million cut to Planned Parenthood’s funding.
Planned Parenthood is choosing not to comply with the rule by making abortion its “core mission.” The abortion chain could continue to receive Title X funds if it stops aborting unborn babies or if it completely separates its abortion business from the real health care services it provides. But Planned Parenthood made it clear that it will not.
Meanwhile, community health centers vastly outnumber Planned Parenthoods and provide far more comprehensive medical services to low-income and minority women across the country. They still have access to those funds, assuring that low-income individuals still will have a options for their medical needs.
What success the lawsuits will have remains uncertain. In 1991, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a similar rule by President Ronald Reagan’s administration in Rust v. Sullivan. However, because of the lengthy legal challenge, the rule never went into effect; pro-abortion President Bill Clinton eliminated the rule when he took office soon after the Supreme Court decision.
