Biden administration rolls back Trump-era rule restricting federal funds to clinics over abortion services

The Biden administration on Monday formally reversed a Trump-era rule that barred reproductive health care clinics that provide abortion referrals and services from receiving federal funds.

The new rule, which will go into effect Nov. 8, paves the way for major providers like Planned Parenthood to rejoin Title X, the federal family planning program created nearly 50 years ago to fill in gaps in health care access and affordability, particularly for those living in rural or otherwise underserved areas.

“This rule is a step forward for family planning care as it aims to strengthen and restore our nation’s Title X program,” Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra said Monday in a statement. “Our nation’s family planning clinics play a critical role in delivering health care, and 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.”

• Add to Google

August 2019: What losing Title X funding could mean for Utah Planned Parenthood

03:50

Clinics that receive Title X funds also provide breast and cervical cancer screening and testing for sexually transmitted infections for more than 190 million low-income or uninsured people, Becerra said.

In a May 2018 speech, then-President Donald Trump promoted his administration's impending rule change as a "historic announcement" that fulfilled a campaign promise.

"For decades, American taxpayers have been wrongfully forced to subsidize the abortion industry through Title X federal funding," he said at the time.

The restriction went into effect in 2019.

For Subscribers

FOR SUBSCRIBERSU.S. military prepares new Iran war options ahead of midterm elections

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCIA probe into intel leak led to discovery of gold bars at agent’s home, sources say

FOR SUBSCRIBERSTexas Latino leaders clash with national Democrats in a meeting over gubernatorial race

FOR SUBSCRIBERS‘Still in this very long day that started on Oct. 7th’

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAnimal rescues in Cuba struggle to care for abandoned pets amid deepening economic crisis

FOR SUBSCRIBERSLocals called their town ‘Almost Heaven’. A plan to open a Buc-ee’s exposed its underbelly.

FOR SUBSCRIBERSTrump keeps touting $21 trillion coming into the U.S. Even his website says it’s half that.

FOR SUBSCRIBERSA Siberian town and the world remain in the dark after a lab worker dies of suspected plague

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCongress launches investigation into youth sports giant AAU’s handling of sexual abuse

FOR SUBSCRIBERS‘Time makes you more hungry’: Hostage’s mom on grief 3 years after Oct. 7 attack

FOR SUBSCRIBERSExperimental vaccine shows promise against deadly brain cancer in some patients

FOR SUBSCRIBERSMeta’s Oversight Board has a warning for AI companies building their own watchdogs

FOR SUBSCRIBERSOutrage, backlash and inaction: Why can’t America stop rape on college campuses?

FOR SUBSCRIBERSFrance shuts down nearly 900 schools as violent student protests escalate

FOR SUBSCRIBERSThis voting bloc holds the key to the midterms

Slide 1 of 1

Leaders of reproductive health care providers said they faced a choice between continuing to offer abortion referrals or services — and losing millions of dollars in annual federal funds — or complying.

For Subscribers

FOR SUBSCRIBERSU.S. military prepares new Iran war options ahead of midterm elections

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCIA probe into intel leak led to discovery of gold bars at agent’s home, sources say

FOR SUBSCRIBERSTexas Latino leaders clash with national Democrats in a meeting over gubernatorial race

FOR SUBSCRIBERS‘Still in this very long day that started on Oct. 7th’

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAnimal rescues in Cuba struggle to care for abandoned pets amid deepening economic crisis

FOR SUBSCRIBERSLocals called their town ‘Almost Heaven’. A plan to open a Buc-ee’s exposed its underbelly.

FOR SUBSCRIBERSTrump keeps touting $21 trillion coming into the U.S. Even his website says it’s half that.

FOR SUBSCRIBERSA Siberian town and the world remain in the dark after a lab worker dies of suspected plague

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCongress launches investigation into youth sports giant AAU’s handling of sexual abuse

FOR SUBSCRIBERS‘Time makes you more hungry’: Hostage’s mom on grief 3 years after Oct. 7 attack

FOR SUBSCRIBERSExperimental vaccine shows promise against deadly brain cancer in some patients

FOR SUBSCRIBERSMeta’s Oversight Board has a warning for AI companies building their own watchdogs

FOR SUBSCRIBERSOutrage, backlash and inaction: Why can’t America stop rape on college campuses?

FOR SUBSCRIBERSFrance shuts down nearly 900 schools as violent student protests escalate

FOR SUBSCRIBERSThis voting bloc holds the key to the midterms

Slide 1 of 1

In 2019, Planned Parenthood announced that it was withdrawing from Title X rather than comply, calling it an "unethical gag rule.” The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, among other public health associations, also opposed the Trump-era restriction.

The Biden administration is challenging a Texas abortion law that sparked protests over the weekend. The Justice Department has asked a federal judge to declare the law, which bans abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy, before many women know they are pregnant, invalid.

• Add to Google

Supreme Court agenda dominated by abortion, gun rights, religion issues

02:22

The Supreme Court, with a 6-3 conservative majority, is also considering a challenge to a Mississippi abortion law that could produce the most consequential ruling on the issue in decades.

President Joe Biden issued a memorandum in January directing HHS to review rules that impose “undue restrictions” on women’s access to health care. HHS first issued a proposed rule reversing the Trump-era restriction on Title X funds in April.

Becerra, citing his department's 2020 Family Planning Annual Report, also said the Title X program experienced a “significant decline in the number of clients served in 2020.”

The report estimates there was a drop of 2.4 million family planning patients from 2018 to 2020, 1.5 million of which can be attributed to the Trump rule change.