Tennessee Rep. Mark Green (R) is set to introduce a bill on Tuesday that would bar President Joe Biden’s Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) from abusing Title X funds to coerce pro-life states into supporting abortion.
“The Biden administration has weaponized HHS to penalize states for standing for life,” Green said in an exclusive statement to Breitbart News. “This is a new low—even for this administration. My bill ensures states can stand for life without getting crucial Title X funding yanked in the process.”
Title X is a family planning program created under the Public Health Service Act in 1970. The program provides contraceptives and other services, mostly to low-income Americans, and serves an estimated four million people annually, according to the HHS. The Donald Trump administration previously passed a ruling broadly prohibiting funding from being used for abortion services; however, the Biden administration was quick to reverse the rule.
Green said his bill, officially titled the States Choose Life Act of 2023, would protect his state of Tennessee and other states with pro-life laws “from being bullied by the federal government into propping up the abortion industry.”
“Specifically, my legislation amends Title X of the Public Health Service Act to prohibit HHS from revoking funding for states that don’t make referrals for abortion,” he said.
The bill comes after the HHS suspended Tennessee’s Title X Funding, which totaled $7.5 million in fiscal year 2023, primarily because the state does not provide abortion referrals to pregnant clients. Federal health officials claim the state is “out of compliance with the Title X regulatory requirements” because the state’s policy only mandates that providers who receive Title X funding share information “regarding all options that are legal in the state of Tennessee.” Tennessee notably outlawed abortions entirely in August 2022.
In April, Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee (R) backfilled funding for reproductive services in the budget amendment to replace the millions pulled in Title X funding.
The HHS is relying on a 2021 rule “which completely contradicts Title X’s prohibition on using its funding for abortion activities,” according to Green’s office. The agency’s use of the rule also reportedly “negates the Supreme Court’s ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson.”
“As we celebrate the one-year anniversary of the Dobbs v. Jackson decision, it’s important to remember that the fight for life is just beginning. Though the tyranny of Roe is over, it is now up to states to protect unborn babies,” Green said. “And states should be allowed to do so without suffering repercussions, financial or otherwise, from the federal government. No medical professional should be forced against his or her conscience to refer patients for abortions. As it stands today, Secretary Becerra is using Title X funding as a cudgel to force states to participate in abortions or risk losing funding. This is abhorrent.”
Green also sent a letter to HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra on June 20, calling the revocation of Tennessee’s Title X funds “arbitrary and malicious.”
He wrote:
Your department is targeting Tennessee because this administration believes that everyone must kowtow to the radical pro-abortion agenda. Using Title X funds as a club to beat states into submission on a political issue is a gross violation of your position, especially when considering that these funds have supported Tennessee families for over 50 years.
“This administration has made it clear that it will exploit every opportunity to skirt the laws and push its radical agenda on American citizens,” he continued.
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