The Trump administration announced Monday that family planning clinics are prohibited from referring women to abortion providers if they receive Title X family planning grants.
The Trump administration’s “Protect Life Rule,” which many abortion rights advocates call a “gag rule,” will prohibit recipients of the grant from directly referring for abortions. The rule applies to some Planned Parenthood clinics.
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.”
The rule has been running through various legal battles and may reach the Supreme Court. 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 was “confident that the Trump administration will ultimately prevail and grateful that, in the meantime, the Protect Life Rule can immediately begin saving lives.”
A second part of the rule that says clinics cannot be housed in the same facility as abortion providers if they receive the grants is set to go into effect next year.
Title X provides about $260 million in grants annually to clinics, including Planned Parenthood affiliates, which provide services to 4 million people nationwide. The funds are not allowed to pay for abortions, but anti-abortion organizations say they shouldn’t go to clinics that also provide abortions.
