Thursday, November 14, 2024
Hawai'i Free Press

Current Articles | Archives

Wednesday, August 21, 2019
To Keep Pushing Abortion Hawaii and Planned Parenthood Quit Title X
By Selected News Articles @ 8:41 PM :: 3673 Views :: Life

Citing ‘Gag Rule,’ Planned Parenthood Leaves Title X Program

by Nicholas Iovino, Court House News, August 19, 2019

Citing a Trump administration “gag rule” barring federally funded clinics from referring women to abortions, Planned Parenthood said Monday it will exit the $286 million Title X program that provides reproductive health care to 4 million low-income and uninsured patients.

“We consider ourselves being forced out of the Title X program because we cannot comply with the gag rule,” Planned Parenthood Acting President and CEO Alexis McGill Johnson said during a press call Monday.

McGill declined to specify how much money Planned Parenthood, which serves 41% of Title X patients, will give up by leaving the program. Emergency funds will be used to help some patients, she said, but exiting the program will cause longer wait times and delays for patients. Some women will be forced to drive hundreds of miles to get birth control while others will go without cancer screenings and other critical services, she said.

In March, U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar introduced a new rule requiring Title X-funded providers maintain “clear financial and physical separation” from centers that perform abortions. The so-called “gag rule” also forbids Title X-funded providers from discussing abortion with patients and requires referring pregnant women to prenatal care, even if they plan to end their pregnancies.

Before the new rule could take effect May 3, three judges in Washington state, Oregon and California granted preliminary injunctions against it. A unanimous three-judge Ninth Circuit panel then stayed the injunctions in June.

Opponents of the “gag rule,” including 21 states and Washington D.C., asked for an en banc rehearing of the panel’s decision. Last month, an 11-judge en banc panel refused to revive the injunctions pending review of the case. The 11-judge panel scheduled oral arguments for Sept. 23 in San Francisco.

The Trump administration set a deadline of Aug. 19 for Title X recipients to submit letters on their plans to comply with the new requirements. Planned Parenthood said it would submit letters by the deadline informing the government of its decision to exit the program.

“When you have an unethical rule limiting what our providers can tell our patients, it becomes really important for us to not agree to be in the program,” Johnson said.

Opponents of the gag rule say the policy will disproportionately impact low-income people, minorities and patients in rural areas that rely on Title X clinics for cancer screenings, HIV testing and birth control.

Governors in five states – Hawaii, Illinois, New York, Oregon and Washington – said they will not participate in the Title X program under the conditions imposed by the Trump administration. Legislatures in Massachusetts and Maryland passed laws refusing to accept Title X funds with the “gag rule” in place. Maine Family Planning, the only Title X-funded provider in Maine, also declined $2 million per year in federal funds due to the Trump administration policy.

Health and Human Services maintains it is not responsible for providers losing Title X funding because they knew the requirements when they applied for grants this year.

“Some grantees are now blaming the government for their own actions – having chosen to accept the grant while failing to comply with the regulations that accompany it – and they are abandoning their obligations to serve their patients under the program,” department spokeswoman Mia Heck said in an emailed statement.

Heck added Health and Human Services is grateful for the many grantees who continue serving patients under the program and that it “will work to ensure all patients continue to be served.” 

---30--- 

KFF: The Status of Participation in the Title X Federal Family Planning Program

AP: Planned Parenthood Losing Control over thousands of women nationwide 

SA Editorial: Resist censoring family planning

March 22, 2019: HB942: Legislators Approve $60K Settlement After Failing to Force Churches to Promote Abortion

March 27, 2019: Federal Investigation Forces Hawaii AG to Back off Mandatory Abortion Stance 

Links

TEXT "follow HawaiiFreePress" to 40404

Register to Vote

2aHawaii

Aloha Pregnancy Care Center

AntiPlanner

Antonio Gramsci Reading List

A Place for Women in Waipio

Ballotpedia Hawaii

Broken Trust

Build More Hawaiian Homes Working Group

Christian Homeschoolers of Hawaii

Cliff Slater's Second Opinion

DVids Hawaii

FIRE

Fix Oahu!

Frontline: The Fixers

Genetic Literacy Project

Grassroot Institute

Habele.org

Hawaii Aquarium Fish Report

Hawaii Aviation Preservation Society

Hawaii Catholic TV

Hawaii Christian Coalition

Hawaii Cigar Association

Hawaii ConCon Info

Hawaii Debt Clock

Hawaii Defense Foundation

Hawaii Family Forum

Hawaii Farmers and Ranchers United

Hawaii Farmer's Daughter

Hawaii Federation of Republican Women

Hawaii History Blog

Hawaii Jihadi Trial

Hawaii Legal News

Hawaii Legal Short-Term Rental Alliance

Hawaii Matters

Hawaii Military History

Hawaii's Partnership for Appropriate & Compassionate Care

Hawaii Public Charter School Network

Hawaii Rifle Association

Hawaii Shippers Council

Hawaii Together

HiFiCo

Hiram Fong Papers

Homeschool Legal Defense Hawaii

Honolulu Navy League

Honolulu Traffic

House Minority Blog

Imua TMT

Inouye-Kwock, NYT 1992

Inside the Nature Conservancy

Inverse Condemnation

July 4 in Hawaii

Land and Power in Hawaii

Lessons in Firearm Education

Lingle Years

Managed Care Matters -- Hawaii

MentalIllnessPolicy.org

Missile Defense Advocacy

MIS Veterans Hawaii

NAMI Hawaii

Natatorium.org

National Parents Org Hawaii

NFIB Hawaii News

NRA-ILA Hawaii

Obookiah

OHA Lies

Opt Out Today

Patients Rights Council Hawaii

Practical Policy Institute of Hawaii

Pritchett Cartoons

Pro-GMO Hawaii

RailRipoff.com

Rental by Owner Awareness Assn

Research Institute for Hawaii USA

Rick Hamada Show

RJ Rummel

School Choice in Hawaii

SenatorFong.com

Talking Tax

Tax Foundation of Hawaii

The Real Hanabusa

Time Out Honolulu

Trustee Akina KWO Columns

Waagey.org

West Maui Taxpayers Association

What Natalie Thinks

Whole Life Hawaii