The proposed regulations, called the “Protect Life Rule” are modeled after regulations issued by the Reagan Administration and include several important requirements:

“A Title X project may not perform, promote, refer for, or support, abortion as a method of family planning, nor take any other affirmative action to assist a patient to secure such an abortion.”

“A Title X project must be organized so that it is physically and financially separate… from [abortion]activities”.

“Title X projects shall comply with all State and local laws requiring notification or reporting of child abuse, child molestation, sexual abused, rape, incest, intimate partner violence, or human trafficking.”

In a statement praising the Administration, Cardinal Timothy Dolan, chair of the U.S. Bishops’ Committee on Pro-Life Activities said that these regulations are “greatly needed and deeply appreciated.” Cardinal Dolan also said, “Most Americans recognize that abortion is distinct from family planning and has no place in a taxpayer-funded family planning program. For too long, Title X has been used to subsidize the abortion industry. ”

The Administration has opened a 60-day comment period ending on July 31, 2018 and is accepting comments on the proposed rule.

Planned Parenthood and other abortion purveyors will flood the Administration with negative comments.  It is very important that the Pro-Life Community write to the Administration also to show our strong support for these regulations.

You can submit your comments here. 

And then share this alert with all your friends.

Sample message:

“Most Americans recognize that abortion is not family planning or healthcare and has no place in a taxpayer-funded family planning program. I strongly support the proposed rule on the Title X program because it will help ensure that abortion-related activities are kept separate from this pre-pregnancy family planning program. For too long, Title X has been used to subsidize the abortion industry. We need these regulations in order to draw a bright line between what happens before a pregnancy begins and what happens after a child has been created, as Congress clearly intended.”

Background:

Title X of the Public Health Service Act (Title “Ten”) was created in 1970 as a pre-pregnancy federal family planning program to help poor women limit and space their family size. It was created in the heat of the population control movement, yet even though its authorization expired in 1985, Congress continues to appropriate yearly money.

Embedded in the authorizing law itself is a strict prohibition on its funds being used for abortion[1] demonstrating the intent of Congress that Title X should be completely apart from the controversial and, at that time, still mostly illegal activity of abortion.  In fact, it was argued that Title X was needed in order to reduce the abortion rate.

In spite of this prohibition, the program guidelines governing the early years of the program soon required abortion referrals and allowed abortion providers to perform abortions in the same location, arguably allowing the program to become a direct channel for abortion providers to receive clients as well as federal money for their non-abortion offerings.

To respond to this abuse, President Reagan issued formal regulations in 1987 requiring that Title X service sites be physically and financially separated from abortion centers and not refer or counsel for abortion. These regulations were challenged and successfully defended by the Bush 41 Administration in the U.S. Supreme Court case Rust v. Sullivan of 1991. However, they were rescinded in January of 1993 under President Clinton and replaced by regulations later that year requiring abortion referrals and allowing co-location of Title X clinic sites with abortion sites.
[1] Sec 1008 “None of the funds appropriated under this title shall be used in programs where abortion is a method of family planning.”