Faith & Freedom Coalition Praises President Trump For Defunding Planned Parenthood

Trump Department of Health & Human Services Announces Rule To End Taxpayer Funding for Centers That Perform Abortions

Washington, DC – Faith & Freedom Coalition, one of the nation’s leading pro-family organizations, today thanked President Donald Trump for his decision to end taxpayer funding of Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers under the Title X Family Planning Program at the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services.

“This is just the latest example of a pro-life promise made and a pro-life promise kept by President Trump,” said Faith & Freedom Coalition founder and chairman Ralph Reed. “During his presidential campaign, Donald Trump pledged to defund Planned Parenthood because of its involvement in promoting and performing abortions. Today he has kept that promise through strong regulations that will prevent Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers from receiving federal funding under family planning programs. Today is a great day for the pro-life movement and all who care for the unborn.”

The Trump regulations restore the original Congressional intent that taxpayer funds not be used to promote or perform abortions under federally-funded family planning programs. The Title X authorizing statute requires that “none of the funds appropriated under this title shall be used in programs where abortion is a method of family planning.” The Reagan Administration implemented regulations directing taxpayer funds to Title X locations that did not perform or refer for abortion. Those regulations were upheld by the Supreme Court in 1991 in Rust v Sullivan (500 U.S. 173). The Clinton Administration effectively repealed the Reagan-era protections, promulgating a rule that required all grantees to refer for abortions and allowed abortion facilities to also be located at Title X clinics.

The second-largest source of taxpayer funds to Planned Parenthood is Title X. Sixty percent of Planned Parenthood clinics (266 of 443 service sites) provide abortion and family planning at the same address. Of the $286 million appropriated for Title X, Planned Parenthood receives $50-60 million in taxpayer subsidies. These funds are fungible and provide indirect support to Planned Parenthood, which performs 300,000 abortions annually, making it the largest abortion provider in the Western world.

“Combined with President Trump signing the Congressional Review Act allowing states to defund Planned Parenthood under the Medicaid program and his nomination of pro-life judges, including Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch, this rule ending taxpayer funding of abortion under federal family planning programs constitutes a major win for the pro-life movement,” added Reed. “It is yet another vindication for the solid support he enjoys among evangelicals and pro-life Americans.”

The new Trump administration rule will not allow taxpayer funds to be directed toward family planning providers who perform abortions. Less than 500 of the roughly 4,000 Title X service sites nationwide are Planned Parenthood facilities, making them difficult to reach for many clients. Women will be better-served by community health centers that outnumber Planned Parenthood clinics by more than 20 to 1 nationwide. There are nearly 10,000 Federally Qualified Health Centers and additional Title X funds will now likely be directed to these facilities.