A federal appeals court has allowed a Trump administration family-planning rule to take effect that prohibits medical clinics from using a federal grant program, known as Title X, to perform or refer abortions.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Feb. 24 ruled 7-4 to lift injunctions ordered by courts in Oregon, California, and Washington state, while the cases play out in the courts. A three-judge panel from the court had previously lifted the injunctions, prompting abortion-rights groups and states to appeal the case to the full court of the circuit court for review.
The rule addresses the complaints of abortion opponents, who have argued that Title X funding helps abortion providers, and Planned Parenthood, in particular, to free up other money that can then be used to fund abortions. Meanwhile, proponents of abortion have characterized the Trump administration’s move as a “gag rule.”
Following its promulgation, several states and private Title X grantees sued the Trump administration to challenge the rule. Three district courts in separate states ordered preliminary injunctions against the implementation of the rule.
In the Feb. 24 decision, the court referenced the Rust case in its opinion to allow the rule to move forward.
Meanwhile, Judge Richard Paez argued in the dissent that since the Rust decision, Congress had barred HHS from imposing rules “that frustrate patients’ ability to access health care.” He called the ruling a throwback to the “paternalism of the past.”
“The majority would return us to an older world, one in which a government bureaucrat could restrict a medical professional from informing a patient of the full range of health care options available to her,” Paez wrote. “Fortunately, Congress has ensured such federal intrusion is no longer the law of the land.”
Justice Department spokesperson Mollie Timmons said in an emailed statement to The Epoch Times that the department is “pleased by the en banc Ninth Circuit’s decision upholding HHS’s rule forbidding the use of taxpayer money to subsidize abortion through Title X grants.”“Congress has long prohibited the use of Title X funds in programs where abortion is a method of family planning and HHS’s recent rule makes that longstanding prohibition a reality,” she said. “We look forward to continuing to defend this vital rule against all challenges.”
Meanwhile, opponents of the rule issued statements criticizing the ruling. California’s Attorney General Xavier Becerra said in a statement that the 2019 rule is “troubling.” California is one of the states challenging the rule.
“The Gag Rule interferes with healthcare decisions that should remain between women and their healthcare providers,” Becerra said.
White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham welcomed the decision in a statement on Feb. 25, saying that the “ruling upholds the Title X regulation that will ensure compliance with that law.”
“President Trump’s commitment to protecting the most vulnerable is unwavering, and we applaud yesterday’s Ninth Circuit decision upholding our Title X regulation. This regulation protects the unborn by ensuring Title X grants are allocated as Congress intended—and not as abortion providers or abortion advocacy organizations would prefer,” Grisham said in the statement.
“By law, Title X prohibits grant funds from going to programs where abortion is considered a method of family planning.”