EWTN journalist Owen Jensen appears to be the only reporter who is questioning the White House about its radical pro-abortion policies and exposing how out of touch they are with the American people.
On Wednesday, Jensen asked White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki about President Joe Biden’s plans to reverse the Trump administration’s Protect Life Rule for the Title X program, the Catholic News Agency reports. The rule ensures that Americans’ tax dollars are not being used to subsidize abortions.
Title X provides family planning services to low-income individuals, and Planned Parenthood, the nation’s largest abortion provider, received about $60 million annually through the program prior to Trump’s rule.
The Biden administration introduced a plan to reverse the rule Wednesday, and Planned Parenthood leaders said they will rejoin the program as soon as that action goes into effect.
Jensen questioned the action, pointing out that many Americans oppose taxpayer funding for abortions.
“The Biden administration and HHS started the reversal of the Trump administration’s ban on abortion referrals at Title X family planning clinics. Why does the Biden administration insist that pro-life Americans pay for abortions and violate their conscience?” he asked.
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Psaki slammed Jensen’s question, responding, “That’s not an accurate depiction of what happened.”
“None of the funds appropriated under this title shall be used in programs where abortion is a method of family planning. That is written into the Public Health Service Act, and it specifically states that,” she continued.
Title X funds are not supposed to be used for abortions. The program provides family planning services to low-income individuals, and the law states that Title X grants may not be used “where abortion is a method of family planning.”
But Planned Parenthood and other groups do provide abortions as a method of family planning, and, under Biden, they will be eligible for Title X again.
Jensen pressed Psaki on this, saying, “Indirect subsidies, money that is fungible that can’t be traced … We know that, come on.”
But Psaki reiterated her initial statement, responding: “That is not how it works. That is the law.”
Jensen is correct. Biden does want to force taxpayers to fund abortions. On the campaign trail, he even abandoned his long-standing support of the Hyde Amendment, which prohibits taxpayer funding for elective abortions in Medicaid and other federal programs. Then in March, he signed a COVID-19 relief bill that excluded the amendment.
Polls consistently show that a strong majority of Americans oppose taxpayer funding for abortions. A recent Marist poll found that, by a double-digit margin, a majority of Americans oppose taxpayer funding of abortions (54 percent to 39 percent).
Regarding Title X specifically, Trump’s rule made it very clear that grant recipients cannot refer women for abortions or provide abortions, thus ensuring tax dollars are not used to support the killing of unborn babies. It required agencies that participate in the program to either not do abortions or to completely separate their abortion businesses from their health services.
But now Biden is reversing it. His action must go through a 30-day comment period and final review before it can be enforced.
Last week, Biden also proposed a $340 million (18.7 percent) funding increase for the Title X program in his federal budget.
