Written by @saywooord
Planned Parenthood is opting out of the federal family program due to new laws that would prohibit clinics from providing information about abortions, which then complicates the doctor-patient relationship as doctors will now be forced to withhold medical information.
This risk could potentially hurt 1.5 million low-income women who rely on Parent Planhood for medicinal care, birth control, pregnancy, and STD testing. Under Title X, the organization serves nearly 40 percent of its four million patients. However, Alexis McGill Johnson, the organization’s acting president and CEO, said they will remain open and strive to make up for the loss in federal funding, according to The Associated Press.
“We will not be bullied into withholding abortion information from our patients,” said McGill Johnson. “Our patients deserve to make their own health care decisions, not to be forced to have Donald Trump or Mike Pence make those decisions for them.”
McGill Johnson blames the Trump administration, accusing them of having forced Planned Parenthood out of the program, New York Times Reports.
“When you have an unethical rule that will limit what providers can tell our patients, it becomes really important that we not agree to be in the program,” stated McGill Johnson.
The Department of Health and Human Services commented on the decision by Planned Parenthood, without specifically naming the organization, saying the affiliates knew months ago about the new restrictions and suggested the organization should have exited the program at that point.
“Some grantees are now blaming the government for their own actions — having chosen to accept the grant while failing to comply with the regulations that accompany it — and they are abandoning their obligations to serve patients under the program,” the department said.
Planned Parenthood, however, is not the only organization to back out, several other organizations have opted out due to the rules. The National Family Planning & Reproductive Health Association is planning to sue in attempts to overturn the regulations.
Organizations had until Monday, August 19, 2019, to submit statements in compliance with the rules and regulations that will be enforced starting September 18.
