Washington D.C., Jul 19, 2019 / 12:31 am (CNA).- As a new regulation takes effect, barring Title X recipients from making abortion referrals, Planned Parenthood has reportedly decided to forego the federal funds in order to continue directing women to abortion.
“We are not going to comply with a regulation that would require health care providers to not give full information to their patients,” Jacqueline Ayers, the group’s top lobbyist, said Tuesday as reported by ABC News.
The Trump administration announced July 15 that parts of the Protect Life Rule, which prohibits recipients of Title X family planning funds from referring or performing abortions, will go into effect immediately. Clinics that provide “nondirective counseling” about abortion may still receive funds.
Pro-life advocates have praised the regulations as a commonsense way to ensure enforcement of already-existing rules against taxpayer money being used for abortions.
“A strong majority of Americans have consistently voiced their opposition to taxpayer funding of abortion – it is even unpopular among Democrats and self-described pro-choice Americans,” said Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the pro-life organization Susan B. Anthony List last week.
“Without reducing Title X funding by a dime, the Protect Life Rule simply draws a bright line between abortion and family planning, stopping abortion businesses like Planned Parenthood from treating Title X as their private slush fund.”
The Protect Life Rule will strip about $60 million in federal funding from Planned Parenthood, whose clinics both refer for abortion services and are co-located with abortion facilities. Planned Parenthood presently receives about one-fifth of the total amount of Title X funds distributed and serves about 40 percent of all clients who benefit from Title X.
Title X does not pay for abortions, but recipients have in the past been able to refer patients for abortion.
The Department of Health and Human Services informed Title X fund recipients on July 15 that they will no longer be permitted to refer mothers for abortions, and must keep finances separate from facilities that provide abortions.
Planned Parenthood described the court’s decision as “devastating” and “crushing news,” though the organization remains eligible to receive $500 million in other federal funding.
As of March next year, abortion facilities will no longer be allowed to co-locate with clinics that receive Title X money.
HHS received $4.1 million in Title X funds in April to disburse to almost 70 service sites, many of which are Planned Parenthood affiliates, The Hill reports.
The rule is being challenged in federal court, but the administration says there is currently no legal obstacle to enforcing it, ABC News reports.
Title X is a federal program created in 1965 that subsidizes family-planning and preventative health services, including contraception, for low-income families. It has been frequently updated and subject to new regulations.
An independent family planning provider in Maine announced that it too would continue to refer for abortions and eschew federal funding.
Planned Parenthood’s president Dr. Leana Wen parted ways with the organization earlier this week, saying her employment had been ended due to “philosophical differences” with the board “over the direction and future of Planned Parenthood.”
Wen noted that when she was interviewed for the role of president, she asked the search committee whether they viewed the organization primarily as an advocacy organization “with medical services that are necessary to strengthen its impact” or as a health care organization “with advocacy as a necessary vehicle to protect rights and access.”
Wen said that she firmly believes Planned Parenthood to be fundamentally about health care, and has spent her eight months as president focusing on patient care and the promotion of reproductive rights as health care.
The board, however, wanted to move in a different direction, emphasizing abortion advocacy as their fundamental mission, she said.
Wen was appointed head of Planned Parenthood in September 2018, following the 12-year presidency of Cecile Richards. Political organizer Alexis McGill Johnson has been named as acting president.
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Now that he’s been laicized, he’s no longer the institutional Church’s problem. Let the government pursue the charges with him as it would with any other person. But, given how he’s managed to weasel out of any and all criminal complications, nothing will happen.
Francis is never one to abide by canon law, nor does anyone besides Vigano protest when he violates it. What’s to stop him from tossing one of his laicized pals a boatload of money for legal fees. Mercy for evil doers, none for victims.
I recall that James Grein accused both McCarrick, and Bernardin of Chicago, with assaulting him at the lake in Wisconsin.
It seems likely that this may be the same case.
Voilà!
It’s only taken 46 years, but the Catholic Church has finally stumbled upon the way to handle its pervy predatory priest problem:
Turn them over to the civil authorities who will throw their ***es into prison.
Nitpick of the day, it’s Lake Geneva. I don’t see how things that are so obviously wrong can take so long to drag on and on. Wasn’t there supposed to be a report or something?
A sad end to an old man who thus far refuses to repent! Schemes and deception are unsuitable for a man proclaiming Jesus Christ.
Protestant Brian Young:
How do you know that McCarrick has refused to repent? Have you read his mind? What do you know about his confession status and the status of his soul? Did God reveal to you that McCarrick has refused to repent?
Schemes and deceptions are indeed unsuitable for anyone who proclaims Jesus Christ. These include writing things in Catholic comboxes designed to undermine the Catholic Faith and encourage Catholics to give up some of their cherished doctrinal beliefs.
Now what kind of a Christian would ever do such things while also absurdly proclaiming that he offers his deceptive words in a “spirit of godliness and edification”?
Dear dear, how fragile the catholic faith according to your prognostications. Was under the mistaken impression “that the gates of hell would not prevail against it”! Yet, according to you, I am wrong at every step. Why, you seem offended that we breath the same air!
Are you at the door extending your warm, felicitous greetings to one and all? Would the Lord Jesus pass your discerning muster? Yet don’t feel lonely for I encountered others of your ilk.
To the credit of the Catholic Church, I’ve met outstanding men and women of God, people who give fine testimony to what jesus Christ has done in their lives. Hope runs eternal, you are in my prayers.
Pardon me for not responding directly to your point. A recent article at CWR mentioned that “Uncle Ted” said of his accuser. “That is not true”! That is not repentance for the person who brought these charges against him is one of many who have strong cases! However, you are correct in every matter. No need for confession from your esteemed perspective.
Woe is me, poor sinner that I am, a constant struggle and unfailing repentance. The Lord is faithful and knows the predicament of man whatever his besetting sins are.
What is sad is that there are numerous predators in that church and many people who know who they are but are afraid or unwilling to call them out. God knows both groups and will deliver them a just and eternal punishment.
What what are you referencing when you write: “in that church (sic)”?
Is this Brian Young the Protestant or a different Brian altogether attacking “that church”?
In any case, the predator problem continues to sadly afflict all denominations, and the Catholic Church is not by any stretch the leader of the pack in housing and protecting a higher percentage of predators than any other denomination as many anti-Catholics would have everyone believe. As a matter of fact, the Catholic Church is a leader in implementing beneficial reforms to significantly reduce the incidences of abuse and cover-up, though of course more work needs to be done to eradicate the problem altogether.
It has been mentioned before, but for anyone who desires to get a better handle on the past and current status of the sexual abuse crisis, get a copy of Bill Donohue’s “The Truth About Clergy Sexual Abuse: Clarifying the Facts and Causes” (2021).
Also check out the following articles that demonstrate the ongoing lie that the sexual abuse problem is primarily a Catholic Church problem:
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/do-the-right-thing/201808/separating-facts-about-clergy-abuse-fiction
https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2022/may-web-only/southern-baptist-abuse-apocalypse-russell-moore.html
https://www.christiancentury.org/article/2013-10/evangelicals-worse-catholics-sexual-abuse