Donald Trump Is Taking Away Funding To Any Clinics Offering Abortions

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The Trump administration is planning to resurrect a rule from Ronald Reagan’s administration that would ban federally funded family planning clinics from not just providing abortions, but even referring women for abortions or sharing space with abortion providers.

The Department of Health and Human Services will announce its proposal today, a senior White House official said.

“This is an attempt to take away women’s basic rights, period. Under this rule, people will not get the health care they need,” Dawn Languens, Executive Vice President of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, said in a statement. “They won’t get birth control, cancer screenings, STD testing and treatment, or even general women’s health exams.”

Marie Claire reports, the new proposal will roll back the Clinton requirement that abortion could be discussed as an option along with prenatal care and adoption. Abortion is a legal medical procedure, but federal family planning funds cannot be used to pay for abortion procedures.

“The notion that you would withhold information from a patient does not uphold or preserve their dignity,” said Jessica Marcella of the National Family Planning & Reproductive Health Association, which represents family planning clinics. “I cannot imagine a scenario in which public health groups would allow this effort to go unchallenged.”