ABORTION/FEDERAL FUNDING/PLANNED PARENTHOOD/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Millions of low-income women could lose access to birth control and other reproductive health services when a Trump administration rule kicks in Monday [9-19-19] night that bans funding for clinics that make abortion referrals, among other restrictions. The new policy steers federal dollars toward anti-abortion, faith-based providers and bans all participating doctors from giving women information about obtaining abortions, which critics call a ‘gag rule.’ Going beyond longstanding restrictions on using federal money for abortions, the rule also cuts off family planning dollars to clinics that use their own money to provide abortions. Some providers who oppose the new policy already have stopped using federal Title X family planning dollars while they await a possible federal appeals court ruling that could block it. That’s allowed Planned Parenthood, as well as states including Oregon, Washington and Illinois, to technically stay in the program without having to follow the new rule. But that could all change in the next few days.”
–Alice Miranda Ollstein and Victoria Colliver, “Planned Parenthood at risk in standoff over Trump abortion ‘gag rule’,” Politico, August 16, 2019 2:01 pm