Obama proposes new rule to ensure funding for Planned Parenthood

Jardine Malado Saturday, September 17, 2016

The Obama administration has proposed a new rule that would prevent states from denying funds to Planned Parenthood and other abortion facilities.

A sign at the entrance to a Planned Parenthood building in New York August 31, 2015. | REUTERS/Lucas Jackson

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) proposed amendments to Title X regulations that would prohibit states from redirecting funds away from abortion service providers based on reasons "unrelated to their ability to provide Title X services effectively."

Title X is designed to provide funds for family planning services for low-income individuals. The services funded by Title X include contraceptives and sterilizations.

The proposal states, "By statute, Title X funds are not available to programs where abortion is a method of family planning (PHSA sec. 1008), and no federal funds in Title X or any federal program may be expended for abortions except in cases of rape, incest, or where the life of the mother would be endangered."

The HHS will consider revisions to the proposal for 30 days before finalizing the regulations.

Rep. Diane Black from Tennessee argued that the proposal would deny the states the ability to decide where to spend taxpayer dollars.

"The Department of Health and Human Services will strip us of our ability to be able to take the dollars that come from Title X family planning at the state level to fund where the state believes that the dollars would best be used," Black told The Blaze.

Lawmakers have attempted to defund Planned Parenthood in the past but their efforts intensified after a series of undercover videos were released in July 2015 showing the company's executives negotiating the sales of fetal body parts. Fourteen states have already moved to redirect Title X funds away from the abortion provider.

The Obama administration has circumvented the restrictions imposed by the states by dealing with abortion providers directly. In 2013, HHS gave $13 million directly to abortion providers in Texas when it passed a law that moves funds to clinics that do not offer such services.