ABORTION/HEALTHCARE/ILLINOIS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Illinois will defy enforcement of the Trump administration’s rule barring federally subsidized family planning clinics from making abortion referrals, the governor said on Thursday [7-18-19], vowing the state would step in to fund most of those clinics itself. Illinois’ action comes a week after a federal appeals court cleared the way for the administration to cut off Title X grants for reproductive healthcare and family planning for low-income women at clinics that refer patients to abortion providers. Governor J.B. Pritzker, a Democrat, said the state would forgo all federal Title X funding while the Trump administration continues to impose its restriction – branded by critics as a ‘gag rule’ designed to silence doctor-patient communications about abortion options. Instead, the Illinois Department of Public Health will provide state funding to the 28 local clinics that normally receive Title X money through the agency, making up for an estimated $2.4 million in federal dollars they otherwise stand to lose for the rest of the fiscal year, Pritzker said.”
–Karen Pierog, “Illinois to defy Trump administration’s abortion referral ‘gag rule’,” Reuters, July 18, 2019 2:21 pm