Ban forced Planned Parenthood out of the federal family planning program called Title X
WEDNESDAY, April 14, 2021 (HealthDay News) — A Trump-era ban on federally funded clinics referring women for abortions will be reversed by the Biden administration, but the process could take months.
Some opponents of the ban — called a “gag rule” by women’s groups and condemned by medical associations — wanted it immediately suspended, but White House officials believe that going slowly will ultimately increase the likelihood that the reversal will withstand legal challenges, the Associated Press reported.
The Trump ban forced Planned Parenthood out of the federal family planning program called Title X and made it more difficult for women to get birth control. The program provides about $286 million a year in grants for clinics that serve mainly low-income women and provide birth control and basic health care services such as cancer screenings, the AP reported.
The law that created the program in 1970 stipulates that taxpayer money may not be used “where abortion is a method of family planning.” In the decades since, there has been ongoing debate between abortion rights supporters and opponents about whether counseling women about abortion or referring them to a different provider for an abortion violates that language, the AP reported.
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