While news of bombs over Afghanistan and missiles in Syria have been occupying news coverage, Donald Trump has quietly signed a new law that will allow states to defund Planned Parenthood.
The controversial move overturns President Obama’s Health and Human Services rule that once protected the family planning organization. President Obama’s rule, which was put in place last year, prevented states from defunding health providers unless they were no longer able to “deliver services to program beneficiaries in an effective manner.”
Now, thanks to Trump, states can withhold federal funding from organizations such as Planned Parenthood, simply because they administer abortions as just one of the many other services they provide. However, it should be noted that the Hyde Amendment, which has been in place for over 40 years, prevents federal funding from being used for abortions in the first place. Title X funding covered contraception, pap smears, pregnancy tests and other various preventative health care services for low-income Americans. However, if you needed an abortion, you had to pay out of pocket. Despite the longstanding law being in place, Trump has still chosen to allow Planned Parenthood to be defunded.
“If you’re serious about trying to reduce the number of abortions, the best way to do that is to make family planning more widely available,” said Republican Sens. Susan Collins (Maine) who opposed the law.
“(Women’s) worst fears are now coming true. We are facing the worst political attack on women’s health in a generation as lawmakers have spent the past three months trading away women’s health and rights at every turn,” Dawn Laguens, executive vice president of Planned Parenthood, said in a statement.
