More than 20 groups have banded together to submit comments opposing the Biden administration’s proposed rule mandating taxpayer-funded abortions.
Historically, Title X is devoted to family planning and providing preventative birth control methods to low-income families. Abortion has largely been excluded by Congress to avoid having taxpayers fund the killing of babies in the womb. Under the Trump administration, Planned Parenthood and other abortion organizations even opted out of receiving federal funding to avoid the separation finalized in 2019 between Title X services and abortion.
Under the “Ensuring Access to Equitable, Affordable, Client-Centered, Quality Family Planning Services” proposal, however, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services would remove the financial and physical separation in funding between Title X activities and abortion activities, circumvent statutes and laws to discourage parental and familial involvement in abortion decisions, and remove certain reporting and regulatory stipulations. The rule would also require providers to give abortion counseling and referrals, even if their objections are protected under the Weldon Amendment and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.
Among the groups that are opposed to this proposed measure include conservative think tanks, pro-life organizations, and religious institutions such as Alliance Defending Freedom, Concerned Women for America, the Ethics & Public Policy Center, the Heritage Foundation, the March for Life, the Religious Freedom Institute, and the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops seeking relief and protections for conscience-based objections.
“Most Americans reject the idea of abortion being used for birth control, which is why they don’t want to fund abortion providers through the Title X program,” said Roger Severino, Senior Fellow at the Ethics & Public Policy Center and former director of the Office of Civil Rights at HHS. “President Biden wants to change the rules to bail out his friends in the abortion industry, who care more about abortion than actual family planning. People are pushing back against an extreme president and HHS secretary who want to not only force people to refer for abortion but have taxpayers fund such taking of life.”
The public comment period ends on Monday.
