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Placard from Planned Parenthood Rally in New York City. (Photo: Women's eNews/Flickr/cc)
Trump Poised to Impose 'Domestic Gag Rule' to Keep Women From Obtaining Abortion Care and Counseling
"Sickening, cruel, hateful, and dishonest on every level."
May 18, 2018
Bringing the anti-choice "global gag rule" stateside, the Trump administration is expected to announce Friday a new policy that would cut funding for health clinics that provide abortions or give information to patients about where they can obtain abortion care.
Upon taking office in 2017, President Donald Trump reinstated the global gag rule, officially known as the Mexico City Policy, which prohibits international health organizations and charities that receive funding from the U.S. from even discussing abortion with patients.
Republicans including Vice President Mike Pence have for years pushed for the rule to be applied to Title X, the national program which provides affordable reproductive health services for four million low-income patients.
The administration's new policy would impose "a bright line of physical as well as financial separation" between facilities that provide abortion care and counseling and those that receive funding through Title X, according to the New York Times.
"Under this policy, most people with private insurance would still be able to get information about abortion from their doctors," wrote the Planned Parenthood Action Fund in a blog post earlier this month, as reports surfaced that the Trump administration was considering a domestic gag rule. "However, people who rely on government initiatives like Title X--many of whom are uninsured, have low incomes, or are people of color--would not."
The policy is expected to be met with legal action by reproductive rights groups.
"The notion that you would withhold information from a patient does not uphold or preserve their dignity," Jessica Marcella of the National Family Planning & Reproductive Health Association told the Associated Press. "I cannot imagine a scenario in which public health groups would allow this effort to go unchallenged."
Cecile Richards, who recently stepped down as president of Planned Parenthood, tweeted that Trump's attempt to restrict women's access to a legal medical procedure should serve to galvanize Americans' efforts defeat the Trump agenda in the November midterm elections.
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Bringing the anti-choice "global gag rule" stateside, the Trump administration is expected to announce Friday a new policy that would cut funding for health clinics that provide abortions or give information to patients about where they can obtain abortion care.
Upon taking office in 2017, President Donald Trump reinstated the global gag rule, officially known as the Mexico City Policy, which prohibits international health organizations and charities that receive funding from the U.S. from even discussing abortion with patients.
Republicans including Vice President Mike Pence have for years pushed for the rule to be applied to Title X, the national program which provides affordable reproductive health services for four million low-income patients.
The administration's new policy would impose "a bright line of physical as well as financial separation" between facilities that provide abortion care and counseling and those that receive funding through Title X, according to the New York Times.
"Under this policy, most people with private insurance would still be able to get information about abortion from their doctors," wrote the Planned Parenthood Action Fund in a blog post earlier this month, as reports surfaced that the Trump administration was considering a domestic gag rule. "However, people who rely on government initiatives like Title X--many of whom are uninsured, have low incomes, or are people of color--would not."
The policy is expected to be met with legal action by reproductive rights groups.
"The notion that you would withhold information from a patient does not uphold or preserve their dignity," Jessica Marcella of the National Family Planning & Reproductive Health Association told the Associated Press. "I cannot imagine a scenario in which public health groups would allow this effort to go unchallenged."
Cecile Richards, who recently stepped down as president of Planned Parenthood, tweeted that Trump's attempt to restrict women's access to a legal medical procedure should serve to galvanize Americans' efforts defeat the Trump agenda in the November midterm elections.
Bringing the anti-choice "global gag rule" stateside, the Trump administration is expected to announce Friday a new policy that would cut funding for health clinics that provide abortions or give information to patients about where they can obtain abortion care.
Upon taking office in 2017, President Donald Trump reinstated the global gag rule, officially known as the Mexico City Policy, which prohibits international health organizations and charities that receive funding from the U.S. from even discussing abortion with patients.
Republicans including Vice President Mike Pence have for years pushed for the rule to be applied to Title X, the national program which provides affordable reproductive health services for four million low-income patients.
The administration's new policy would impose "a bright line of physical as well as financial separation" between facilities that provide abortion care and counseling and those that receive funding through Title X, according to the New York Times.
"Under this policy, most people with private insurance would still be able to get information about abortion from their doctors," wrote the Planned Parenthood Action Fund in a blog post earlier this month, as reports surfaced that the Trump administration was considering a domestic gag rule. "However, people who rely on government initiatives like Title X--many of whom are uninsured, have low incomes, or are people of color--would not."
The policy is expected to be met with legal action by reproductive rights groups.
"The notion that you would withhold information from a patient does not uphold or preserve their dignity," Jessica Marcella of the National Family Planning & Reproductive Health Association told the Associated Press. "I cannot imagine a scenario in which public health groups would allow this effort to go unchallenged."
Cecile Richards, who recently stepped down as president of Planned Parenthood, tweeted that Trump's attempt to restrict women's access to a legal medical procedure should serve to galvanize Americans' efforts defeat the Trump agenda in the November midterm elections.
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