New Obama Rule Would Ban States From Defunding Planned Parenthood
The Obama administration is seeking to ban states from defunding Planned Parenthood by quietly implementing a new Title X rule that would limit states’ ability to direct federal funds.
The proposed Health and Human Services rule would ban states from using criteria not based on ability to provide services when determining which family planning centers get federal funding. Several states stripped Planned Parenthood of these federal funds in the last year after a series of undercover videos exposed the non-profit’s trade in aborted fetus parts, and 13 states have now stripped the funds since 2011.
“The amendment precludes project recipients from using criteria in their selection of subrecipients that are unrelated to the ability to deliver services to program beneficiaries in an effective manner,” the rule reads, citing instances in some states where defunding of Planned Parenthood led to a disruption or reduction in services.
Republican Rep. Diane Black, a member of the Select Investigative Panel On Infant Lives, blasted the new rule in a statement Tuesday, calling it a “shady” change that would thwart states’ rights. Her state of Tennessee stripped Planned Parenthood of funds in 95 counties and directed the funds to other providers who meet the Title X criteria.
“We must use the full force of Congress and the grassroots strength of the national pro-life movement to defeat this absurd rule and prevent the Obama Administration from acting unilaterally to carry out political favors and prop up a scandal-ridden abortion provider,” she said.
More than half a billion taxpayer dollars make up 40 percent of Planned Parenthood’s revenue, and the most recent federal data available shows the provider conducted 33,964 abortions in 2011 that accounted for 32 percent of all abortions.
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