The planned revival of a policy dating to Ronald Reagan’s presidency may finally present a way for President Donald Trump to fulfill his campaign promise to “defund” Planned Parenthood. Or at least to evict it from the federal family planning program, where it provides care to more than 40% of that program’s 4 million patients.

Congress last year failed to wipe out funding for Planned Parenthood, because the bill faced overwhelming Democratic objections and would not have received the 60 votes needed to pass in the Senate.

But the imposition of a slightly retooled version of a regulation, which was upheld by the Supreme Court in 1991 after a 5-year fight, could potentially accomplish what Congress could not.

The rules now under review, according to Trump administration officials, would require facilities receiving federal family planning funds to be physically separate from those that perform abortion; would eliminate the requirement that women with unintended pregnancies be counseled on their full range of reproductive options; and would ban abortion referrals.

All those changes would particularly affect Planned Parenthood.

Planned Parenthood, which provides a broad array of reproductive health services to women and men, also provides abortion services using nonfederal funds. Cutting off funding has been the top priority for anti-abortion groups, which supported candidate Trump.

“A win like this would immediately disentangle taxpayers from the abortion business and energize the grassroots as we head into the critical midterm elections,” Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the anti-abortion Susan B. Anthony List, said in a statement.

In a conference call with reporters, Planned Parenthood officials said they would fight the new rules.

“We’ve been very clear, Planned Parenthood has an unwavering commitment to ensuring everyone has access to the full range of reproductive health care, and that includes abortion,” said Dawn Laguens, executive vice president of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America.

Here is a guide to what the proposal could do and what it could mean for Planned Parenthood and the family planning program:

What is Title X?

The federal family planning program, known as “Title Ten,” is named for its section in the federal Public Health Service Act. It became law in 1970, 3 years before the Supreme Court legalized abortion in Roe v Wade.

The original bill was sponsored by then Rep. George H.W. Bush (R-Texas) and signed into law by President Richard Nixon.

The program provides wellness exams and comprehensive contraceptive services, as well as screenings for cancer and sexually transmitted diseases for both women and men.

In 2016, the most recent year for which statistics have been published, Title X served 4 million patients at just under 4,000 sites.

Title X patients are overwhelmingly young, female, and low-income. An estimated 11% of Title X patients in 2016 were male; two-thirds of patients were under age 30; and nearly two-thirds had income below the federal poverty line.

What is Planned Parenthood’s relationship to Title X and Medicaid?

Planned Parenthood affiliates account for about 13% of total Title X sites but serve an estimated 40% of its patients. Only about half of Planned Parenthood affiliates perform abortions, although the organization in its entirety is the nation’s leading abortion provider.

Planned Parenthood also gets much more federal funding for services provided to patients on the Medicaid program (although not for abortion) than it does through Title X.

Eliminating Medicaid funding for Planned Parenthood has proved more difficult for lawmakers opposed to the organization because the federal Medicaid law includes the right for patients to select their providers. Changing that also would require a 60-vote majority in the Senate. So that particular line of funding is likely not at risk.

While opponents of federal funding for Planned Parenthood have said that other safety-net clinics could make up the difference if Planned Parenthood no longer participates in Title X, several studies have suggested that in many remote areas Planned Parenthood is the only provider of family planning services and the only provider that regularly stocks all methods of birth control.

Texas, Iowa, and Missouri in recent years have stopped offering family planning services through a special Medicaid program to keep from funding Planned Parenthood. Texas is seeking a waiver from the Trump administration so that its program banning abortion providers could still receive federal funding. No decision has been made yet, federal officials said.

 

Read more at: cbsnews

 

In: Lexis Nexis

Video: Jake Hamilton