The rule, which has been expected for months, is almost certain to be challenged in court. It also requires organizations that receive funding under the program, called Title X, to have “physical and financial separation” between abortion-related services and programs that involve birth control or other family planning services. Organizations that receive federal funds have already been prohibited for years from using them to finance abortion services.
The rule does not prevent Title X programs from talking about abortion with patients, just from telling them where they can obtain one. But it removes a requirement that the programs counsel women on all reproductive options, including abortion, a change that would make anti-abortion providers eligible for funding.
“Trump’s domestic gag rule harms women in more ways than one,” Stephanie Schriock, president of Emily’s List, said in a statement. “It effectively dismantles Title X, forces doctors to lie and forbids them from referring their patients for abortion, and prevents women from being able to access Planned Parenthood’s services.”
Anti-abortion organizations heralded the regulation as a long-sought victory. “The finalized ‘protect life rule’ draws a bright line between abortion and family planning programs,” Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, said in a statement, adding that the rule will loosen Planned Parenthood’s “hold on tens of millions of tax dollars.”
Title X provides $286 million in funding for programs that provide services like birth control, screening for breast cancer and cervical cancer, and screening and treatment for sexually transmitted diseases. These programs serve about 4 million patients each year, many of them poor, at more than 4,000 clinics. About 40 percent of those clinics are operated by Planned Parenthood, which receives close to $60 million in Title X funds each year.
Most of the changes required by the new regulation will be phased in beginning 60 days after it is published in the Federal Register. Compliance with the financial separation is required 120 days after publication and clinics have a year to comply with the physical separation requirements.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.