Planned Parenthood has filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration over a new rule that would bar the organization from talking to patients about abortion if they want to keep their Title X grant money.
The abortion provider currently receives roughly $50 million to $60 million in grant money each year from Title X, which is meant to help low income individuals pay for birth control, cancer screenings, and sexually transmitted disease testing.
Planned Parenthood filed the lawsuit on Tuesday in the US District Court in Eugene, Oregon. The Oregon Medical Association and the American Medical Association have also joined the lawsuit.
On Monday, the state of California also filed a lawsuit over the rule and roughly 20 more states are expected to follow their lead.
The changes to the grant rules made by the Trump administration are set to go into effect in 59 days and require that family planning organizations receiving these funds do not refer patients for abortions. They also require “physical and financial” separation of family planning services and abortion.
The lawsuit claims that the rule would “radically alter and decimate the family-planning-assistance program established by Title X of the Public Health Service Act.” They also argue that “since its inception, Title X care has been delivered by health care providers who — outside the Title X program and with non Title X funds—also provide abortion services.”
Planned Parenthood also argues that the rule “would have significant negative consequences—including, for example, drastic workflow alterations at Planned Parenthood health centers and major delays in patient care.”
The Washington Examiner noted that the new rule is similar to a 1988 policy that had been implemented by Ronald Reagan “which required family planning services to have a ‘physical separation’ and ‘separate personnel’ from abortion providers.”
Reagan’s policy was ultimately rolled back by Bill Clinton in 1994.
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