Pro-lifers reportedly said that President Joe Biden's Department of Health and Human Services will force faith-based providers out of the Title X Family Planning Program.
The Christian Post said that the pro-lifer Ethics and Public Policy Center has warned that Biden's proposed changes to Title X would "force religious family planning providers out of the program" during an online press conference held last Monday.
"The current Title X rules ensure that taxpayer dollars don't fund programs promoting abortion, but the revised Title X rule compromises healthcare professionals' freedom of conscience by requiring Title X participants to refer patients for abortion and contraceptives," pointed out Alliance Defending Freedom Senior Counsel Denise Harle during the conference.
Harle was one of the panelists in the event together with Ethics and Public Policy Center Senior Fellow Roger Severino and member Josh Britton, and former HHS Office of Global Affairs official Valerie Huber. Severino served as the HHS Office of Civil Rights Director during former President Donald Trump's Administration.
"The revised rule targets everyone who believes abortion is not birth control and imposes a one-size-fits-all method of family planning on the public," Harle added. "The revised rule would force religious family planning providers out of the program because they can't in good conscience abide by the government mandates."
In addition, Harle also said the that revision would only funnel "business to Planned Parenthood and big abortion" while targeting American citizens' "basic conscience rights." She highlighted that the revisions would be regarded as a means to "punish people of faith" while streaming revenue "for the abortion industry."
The other panelists pointed out the purpose of the Title X program was originally to provide means for family planning, which is not limited to abortion. Huber pointed out other methods such as the infertility services and natural family planning methods that protects the person's consciences, contrary to what the revisions entail. Huber said the changes show a "return to hostile restrictions" contrary to a person's "own choosing."
Severino, on the other hand, agreed with the other panelists since the changes do "favor" the "abortion industry and big abortion" more than it does the other many services the program provides. He said that the revisions do indeed show that it "would coerce participants into referring for abortion."
Last month, the HHS released its 71-page proposed rule to the Title X following directives from Biden previously to study the document especially in line with the policies made by Trump on it during his term. Trump's policies protected taxpayer funds to be used from abortion through Title X through revisions made on it in March 4, 2019.
The HHS document's recommendations are based on their study of President Trump's policies that allegedly negatively affected the number of family planning service grantees. The HHS invited the public to submit their comments and/or opinions regarding their released document giving May 17 as deadline for it.
As per The Christian Post, the Ethics and Public Policy Center was able to submit its opposition to the said HHS revisions on Title X prior to the deadline under the "broad coalition" it belongs to composed of more than 20 organizations from the medical, legal, and religious sectors.
EPPC pointed out in its opposition that most Americans "reject the idea of abortion being used for birth control" and would not want the revisions to use taxpayer funds for it. It also stressed that the revisions would "no longer encourage family and parental participation," "weaken reporting and compliance requirements," and remove the "physical and financial separation requirements" for abortion activities and Title X activities.
