Richard A. Sokerka
A ruling late last month by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals on new Title X rules is a boon to the pro-life movement in America.
The new rules prohibit funds from going to clinics that perform abortions or provide abortion referrals, and with the court ruling, it means that they can now go into effect.
The ruling also means that Planned Parenthood will stand to lose about $60 million in federal funding, though the abortion provider will continue to receive close to half a billion dollars in federal funding from other programs.
Earlier this year, the Trump Administration had finalized the “Protect Life Rule,” which added new eligibility requirements for Title X fund recipients. Immediately afterward, several states sued over the new policy, and California, Washington, and Oregon received a preliminary injunction that blocked the rule from going into effect. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals overturned that earlier decision, calling the Trump administration rules a “reasonable” interpretation of federal law.
The court ruled that allowing the injunction to stand would mean “ the Department of Health and Human Services will be forced to allow taxpayer dollars to be spent in a manner that it has concluded violates the law, as well as the government’s important policy interest…in ensuring that taxpayer dollars do not go to fund or subsidize abortions.”
Title X, a federal program created in 1965, subsidizes family-planning and preventative health services, including contraception, for low-income families.
The “Protect Life Rule” requires that there be a physical and financial separation between recipients of Title X funds and facilities that perform abortions. As a result of the ruling, Title X fund recipients are immediately prevented from referring patients for abortion services.
“The Protect Life Rule” was crucial so that Title X funds would not be misused by those who promote and profit from abortion.
The court’s ruling on the administration’s “Protect Life Rule” puts to rest, once and for all, previous administrations’ support for abortion by subsidizing the industry with our tax dollars every year.