Planned Parenthood to defy Trump abortion referral rule
WASHINGTON • Federally-funded family planning clinics, including Planned Parenthood, are defying the Trump administration’s ban on referring women for abortions, drawing a line against what they say amounts to keeping patients in the dark about legitimate health care options.
“We are not going to comply with a regulation that would require health care providers to not give full information to their patients,” Jacqueline Ayers, the group’s top lobbyist, said in an interview Tuesday. “We believe as a health care provider it is wrong to withhold health care information from patients.”
The fallout from the confrontation between the Trump administration and the clinics remains to be seen, but groups like the American Medical Association have been warning that many low-income women could lose access to basic services like contraception. Planned Parenthood’s announcement came on a day when it also replaced its president, although it’s unclear if there was any connection.
The Department of Health and Human Services formally notified the clinics Monday that it will begin enforcing the new regulation banning abortion referrals, along with a requirement that clinics maintain separate finances from facilities that provide abortions. The rule is being challenged in federal court, but the administration says there is currently no legal obstacle to enforcing it.
It’s part of a broader effort by the Trump administration to remake government policy on reproductive health.
There was no immediate response from HHS to Planned Parenthood’s decision, which came as the group abruptly announced the departure of its president, physician Leana Wen. Political organizer Alexis McGill Johnson was named as acting president.
FILE — In this June 28, 2019 file photo, Ashlyn Myers of the Coalition for Life St. Louis, waves to a Planned Parenthood staff member in St. Louis, Mo. The Trump administration says its new regulation barring taxpayer-funded family planning clinics from referring women for abortions is taking effect immediately. (Robert Cohen/St. Louis Post-Dispatch via AP)
