Yesterday was a huge day for women in the United States everywhere, as the Obama Administration has made sure that states will no longer be allowed to deny funding for abortion services at Planned Parenthood. According to a new rule [PDF] regarding Title X funding (which affects preventative healthcare and family planning services to over 4 million low-income Americans), states are now completely forbidden from withholding Title X family planning money for any reason whatsoever.
That means that the original rules that forbade using any of the Title X funding for abortion services are now illegal. The bottom line is that states can’t even VOTE to defund Planned Parenthood just because their clinics offer abortion services.
Planned Parenthood’s president, Cecile Richards, said:
“This will make a real difference in so many people’s lives. Thanks to the Obama Administration, [low income] women will still be able to access the birth control they need to plan their families, and the cancer screenings they need to stay healthy.”
INVESTIGATION ON PLANNED PARENTHOOD’S “DEBUNKED” VIDEOS
11 states have voted to block public funds from Planned Parenthood because its services included abortion. Republican Diane Black, who is in the process of producing another expensive House committee investigation into the videos that have already been proven fabricated and edited, is up in arms over the decision. She commented:
“We must use the full force of Congress and grassroots strength of the [Catholic] pro-life movement to defeat this absurd rule and prevent the Obama Administration from carrying out political favors and prop up a scandal-ridden abortion provider.”
Someone should tell Diane Black that the Catholic Church is not in charge of the United States.
The new Title X rule will become permanent after a 30-day public comment period, but will be the end of religious attacks against federally-funded abortion services in the United States.
Editor’s note: To clarify, this rule does not change the fact that no federal dollars will be going towards abortion. Title X will not include federal funding for abortion services.
COMMENTS