President Trump signed a Bill, H.J. Res. 43, into Law on Thursday that allows States to Block Federal Grants for Family Planning Centers that provide Abortions, like Planned Parenthood.
The Rule, put in place late in the Obama Administration in response to States moving to gut Funding for their Local Planned Parenthood Centers, barred States from blocking Title X Federal Funding for Family-Planning Services including Birth Control, Fertility, Pregnancy Care, and Cancer Screenings from Health Centers that also perform Abortions.
Trump didn't Sign the Bill in a Public Ceremony, but invited the Heads of two of the largest Anti-Abortion groups in the Country to join him for the Signing: Concerned Women for America CEO Penny Nance and Susan B. Anthony List President Marjorie Dannenfelser.
The Bill Passed by the barest of margins in the Senate, with Vice President Mike Pence casting the Tie-Breaking vote in late March.
“Our federal system was set up to allow the states to address the unique needs of their own populations when possible, especially when to come to programs as important and sensitive as family planning,” White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said on Thursday. “With the bill signing the president has restored respect to states’ rights on this particular issue.”
"The resolution signed today simply ensures that states are not forced to fund an abortion business with Title X taxpayer dollars," Dannenfelser said in Public comments at the White House after the Signing. "Rather, states have the option to spend money on comprehensive healthcare clinics that better serve women and girls."
Democrats and Abortion Access Advocates expressed outrage at the move.
Planned Parenthood said the rule change threatens Healthcare Access for four million Americans.
“People are sick and tired of politicians making it even harder for them to access health care, and this bill is just the latest example. Planned Parenthood strongly opposes President Trump’s willingness to undermine millions of women’s access to birth control through the Title X family planning program,” Planned Parenthood Vice President Dawn Laguens said in a statement. “We are facing the worst political attack on women’s health in a generation.”
“Stripping millions of Americans of the critical health care services that Planned Parenthood provides doesn’t just hurt women — it hurts entire families and their economic security. This is just one more example of Donald Trump’s White House and this Republican Congress taking every single opportunity to chip away at women’s rights, and we won’t stand for it," EMILY's List President Stephanie Schriock said in a statement.
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