9/15/2017

ABORTION/BUDGET/PLANNED PARENTHOOD/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “The Trump administration has taken a series of steps to cut funds for abortion providers and promote conservative reproductive policies, moving toward what supporters and opponents say could be the most antiabortion presidential agenda in recent memory.
A high-profile push to withhold federal Medicaid funding from Planned Parenthood, which provides abortions as well as an array of other women’s health services, fizzled this summer along with the larger Republican health care effort. But the administration has pursued more modest initiatives—rescinding Obama-era rules, curtailing contracts, making key appointments—that could broadly shape access to abortion and contraception…
The Trump administration moved quickly to reinstate a policy banning foreign-aid funds from organizations that perform abortions, for example. The rule, known as the Mexico City Policy, has been reversed and reinstated in successive administrations, but Mr. Trump’s directive touches a broader set of funds than those of previous Republican presidents.
The administration has also signaled that it intends to roll back an Obama-era rule requiring most employers to offer contraceptive coverage to their workers, a goal long-sought by social and religious conservatives.”

-Michelle Hackman, “Trump Administration Moves Cheer Abortion Foes,” The Wall Street Journal online, Sept. 15, 2017 03:53pm