US President Donald Trump on Friday issued a proposal that would effectively stop giving government funds that subsidise birth control for low-income women to Planned Parenthood and other clinics that provide abortions.
The plan is aimed at fulfilling Trump’s campaign pledge to defund Planned Parenthood, an organisation that provides abortions and other health services for women, and comes as Republicans push to energise Trump supporters ahead of November congressional elections.
Congress provided $286 million in Title X grants in 2017 to Planned Parenthood and other health centres to provide birth control, screening for diseases and cancer, and other reproductive counselling to low-income women.
The funding cannot be used for abortions, but abortion opponents have long complained that the money subsidises Planned Parenthood itself.
“You can still get an abortion in this country. You can get it in many different places. We don’t just don’t think taxpayers should have to pay for that,” said Kellyanne Conway, a top adviser to Trump, on Fox News Channel.
Planned Parenthood said it would not back down from providing abortions and counselling, and would fight the rule in court if needed.
The group provides healthcare services to about 40 per cent of the 4 million people covered by the Title X program, and said community health centres would not be able to absorb its patients.
The organisation called it a “gag rule” that would roll back a requirement that medical professionals provide information about abortions, reports Reuters.
“If a woman is pregnant and wants or needs an abortion, under this rule, her provider will be prohibited from telling her where she could get one,” Dawn Laguens, executive vice president of the group, told reporters.