President Joe Biden has reversed a 2018 regulation established by the Trump adminsitration that prevents federal funding from going to family planning clinics thar refer patients for abortion services. The Biden administration's new measure, which will allow Title X funding to resume for abortionp-rferring clinics, will take effect beginning November 8.
"Today more than ever, we are making clear that access to quality family planning care includes accurate information and referrals - based on a patient's needs and direction," U.S. Secretary for Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra said about the revision of the measure, as reported by Fox News.
Activist Abby Johnson, who previously served as clinic director at Planned Parenthood but later resigned and founded the Texas-based anti-abortion group And Then There Were None, criticized abortion clinics and abortion-referring clinics for receiving taxpayer funding. She argued that they "should never receive taxpayer funding" because polls on Americans' opinions show that they should not be financially supported by the government.
"If abortion advocates want government out of their bedroom, then they should stop taking government money," Johnson said. She also blasted her former employer, Planned Parenthood and its allies for "getting around this minor rule" and criticized President Biden for enabling them to do so.
Planned Parenthood's President Alexis McGill fired back in a statement, however, saying that "Given the attacks on abortion in Texas and across the country, it's more important than ever that patients can access their choice of birth control and other health care through Title X," the Associated Press reported.
The Biden administration's decision to reinstate federal funding for abortion-referring clinics comes amidst a pending Supreme Court case that may finally overturn Roe v. Wade. The Supreme Court is set to hear arguments in a case titled Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, which challenges a Mississippi law that prohibits abortions when the "probable gestational age of the unborn human" is more than 15 weeks. The case will be heard on December 1.
According to Fort Wayne's NBC, President Biden's decision to reinstate federal funding for abortion-referring clinics impacts up to 1,300 service providers that left the program in protest of the Trump administration's ban. The Department of Health and Human Services estimated that the Trump administration's ban had led to more than 180,000 unintended pregnancies. Such clinics often cater to women from low-income communities by providing them with birth control and basic healthcare.
Meanwhile in Texas, where a heartbeat bill took effect on September 1 that bans abortions beyond the 15th week of pregnancy, abortion clinics are forced to refer patients to out-of-state clinics. According to NM Political Report, Planned Parenthood clinics in Rocky Mountain and New Mexico saw a 130% increase in patients coming from Texas since August.
Right now, there are about 600 bills that ban or restrict abortion in 2021 alone, 100 of which have been enacted. McGill Johjnson said, "2021 has been the worst year for reproductive health."
