President Trump signed into law a measure passed by Congress that would allow states to deny certain government funding for Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers.
Under President Obama, Title X “family-planning grants” to states could not be denied to organizations on the basis of whether or not they performed abortions. Thus, federal money went to Planned Parenthood not for abortions–the Hyde Amendment forbids that–but to support their other activities (as if money were not fungible).
Now states can prevent abortion providers from receiving any of the money if they so choose.
Question: Why are taxpayers funding Title X “family-planning grants” in the first place? Can states refuse to take them?
From Colin Dwyer, Trump Signs Law Giving States Option To Deny Funding For Planned Parenthood : The Two-Way : NPR:
President Trump quietly signed legislation Thursday that rolls back an Obama-era rule protecting certain federal funds for Planned Parenthood and other organizations that provide legal abortions.
That regulation, implemented in the waning days of the Obama administration, required that states pass along family-planning grants — regardless of whether the groups they’re passing them along to offer abortion services as well. The rule was intended to prevent states from withholding these grants from any organization “for reasons other than its ability to provide Title X services.”
Now that the rule has been repealed, states can effectively block Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers from funds associated with the Title X Family Planning program, which was established in 1970 to subsidize organizations that offer services related to contraception, pregnancy care, fertility and cancer screenings primarily for low-income people.
[Keep reading. . .]
Photo by Toby Marks, Flickr, Creative Commons license.
President Trump signed into law a measure passed by Congress that would allow states to deny certain government funding for Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers.
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