Court Deals Blow to Abortion Industry, Rules for Trump's Family Planning Program
Planned Parenthood suffered a major blow Thursday when a federal appeals court ruled that the Trump administration’s family planning rules could take effect on a nationwide scale.
A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals responded to a request by the Trump administration by lifting national injunctions against the rules that were issued by lower federal courts in Oregon and in Washington, according to Politico.
The ruling also lifted a statewide injunction issued by the state of California.
The panel ruled that the Trump administration will more than likely win the legal battle over the Title X family planning program, reasoning that the Supreme Court upheld a similar Reagan-era rule nearly 30 years ago, Politico reported.
In a unanimous decision, the panel wrote, “Absent a stay, HHS 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.”
In February of this year, President Donald Trump issued major rules that revamped the Title X program, which governs federal assistance family planning.
The revamp of the program would potentially strip tens of millions of dollars away from abortion provider Planned Parenthood and redirect some of the money to pro-life, faith-based care providers.
Under the new rules, Planned Parenthood or any other clinics that receive the funding would be barred from providing an abortion or referring a patient to an abortion clinic.
Planned Parenthood President Leana Wen told reporters in February, “Planned Parenthood cannot participate in a program that would force our providers to compromise our ethics.”
However, pro-life groups praised the rules.
In February, Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the pro-life group Susan B. Anthony List, said in a statement, “The Title X program was not intended to be a slush fund for abortion businesses like Planned Parenthood, which violently ends the lives of more than 332,000 unborn babies a year and receives almost $60 million a year in Title X taxpayer dollars.”
She thanked Trump “for taking decisive action to disentangle taxpayers from the big abortion industry led by Planned Parenthood.”
Additionally, an overwhelming majority of Americans believe that taxpayer dollars should not fund abortions.
A Marist poll in January found that 54 percent of Americans oppose any taxpayer-funded abortions.
The poll also found that 49 percent of Americans believe that if the Supreme Court looks at Roe v. Wade again, the court should turn to the states to set restrictions on abortions.
According to Politico, a different panel of the 9th Circuit is set to hear arguments about the rules in cases brought by other states.
Also, a statewide injunction against the rules remains in place in Maryland, pending a Trump administration appeal to the 4th Circuit Court.
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