On Friday, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) filed new Title X grant requirements similar to rules established during the Reagan era and upheld by the Supreme Court. This new rule requires physical and financial separation between Title X recipients and abortion providers in order to draw a clear line against federal tax money going to support abortion. It also prohibits referrals for abortion to further disentangle federal taxpayer money from the abortion industry.
For years abortion providers have used the fungibility of Title X funds to their financial advantage. Title X funding can be used for a number of things like utilities, advertising, staff salaries, and medical supplies. Basically, these grants can free up other funds and provide infrastructure for clinics like Planned Parenthood to promote abortion.
Title X has been Planned Parenthood’s second largest government funding stream. They operate as if they are entitled to federal tax dollars and use these grants as their personal slush fund. Under these new regulations, Planned Parenthood will have to play by the new rules or get out of the game.
Unfortunately, Planned Parenthood wants you to believe abortion is just a small part of what they do. The reality is that over 90% of pregnant women who enter a Planned Parenthood clinic will receive an abortion. It is not a “small part” of what they do, because if it were, these new rules would not make a big difference to their business model. But we know otherwise.
This move by the Trump Administration is a promise kept. Almost 200 Members of Congress and 86 pro-life groups asked for these changes Americans want out of the abortion business altogether. Six in ten Americans oppose taxpayer funding for abortion. Title X funds have been tangled in big abortion for far too long.
While there is still more to do, this is a big step in the right direction. Everyone is frustrated with the Senate’s failure to pass a bill redirecting Planned Parenthood’s Medicaid funding, and we are still furious that the omnibus allowed abortion providers to receive funding. Now the federal agency who controls who is eligible for Title X funding has responded. We will continue to work with Congress and the Administration to find new avenues to make progress against taxpayer funding of abortion providers.