Planned Parenthood Federation of America is not happy that President Donald Trump’s proposed rule to cut off Title X federal family planning funds from abortion providers makes the money available to organizations that fight for the rights of unborn children and faith-based groups.
National Public Radio (NPR) reported about Trump’s proposed rule and how it “could pave the way for a host of previously ineligible organizations — some of which oppose contraception — to receive funds through the federal government’s family planning program.”
“It also removes a requirement that recipients offer ‘medically approved’ family planning services, and it states explicitly that recipients would not have to provide all forms of effective contraception approved by the Food and Drug Administration,” NPR reported.
Under Trump’s proposed rule, Health and Human Services would no longer provide Planned Parenthood with a huge chunk of those funds — as much as $60 million of the $287 million of the Title X budget — the Federalist reported.
In its annual report for the year ending June 30, 2017, Planned Parenthood affiliates performed 321,384 abortions, not including providing drugs that cause unborn babies to be aborted.
Calling pro-abortion critics of pro-life organizations “reproductive rights advocates,” NPR asked Planned Parenthood and the Center for Reproductive Rights to weigh in.
NPR reported:
Emily Stewart, vice president of public policy at Planned Parenthood, said in a conference call with reporters that the administration’s proposal would “undermine access to contraception” and bring organizations into the Title X program “who don’t even believe in birth control.”
“We have limited federal dollars for health care generally, and limited federal dollars for family planning,” Nancy Northup of the Center for Reproductive Rights told NPR.”They should go to programs that have a full range of planning, that are scientifically based, and that women are making the decisions based on their full range of options.”
In fact, pregnancy resource centers – non-profits across the country that help women facing unplanned pregnancies arrange for adoption or help them pre- and post-natal with a range of services and resources, and the source of abortion advocates’ ire — have saved millions of lives.
And pro-life Republicans have also worked to defund Planned Parenthood of other federal funds, instead preferring to direct money to publicly funded health clinics that don’t perform abortions and offer a full range of health services.
The National Catholic Register reported last year:
According to the Charlotte Lozier Institute, the research arm of the Susan B. Anthony List, such health centers are publicly funded and exist in all 50 states, almost 10,000 in total, compared to around 650 Planned Parenthood facilities nationwide. The health centers served more than 24 million people in 2015, while Planned Parenthood says it serves around 2.5 million per year.
These health centers do not perform abortions, but they do provide services like prenatal and perinatal care, diabetes screening, pap smears, checkups and mammograms, something Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards has admitted her centers do not provide, despite claims that they do. Planned Parenthood only provides referrals for mammograms, not the procedures themselves.
NPR talked to several groups that are considering or want to apply for federal dollars to help with their mission, including Aim for Success, a Texas-based nonprofit that provides abstinence education; the Catholic Medical Association; and The Couple to Couple League, a Catholic organization that promotes natural family planning methods and abstinence until marriage.