The U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals handed the Trump administration and pro-life groups a major victory Monday, upholding a new rule that prevents certain federal funds from going to groups – such as Planned Parenthood – that promote or perform abortions.
The 7-4 decision means the Department of Health and Human Services can continue enforcing the rule, which was finalized last year.
Opponents call it the “gag rule,” while supporters dubbed it the “protect life rule.”
At issue are $300 million in funds within a family-planning-program known as Title X, which provides low-income people with cancer screenings, pregnancy tests and contraceptives.
The new HHS rule prevents Title X money from going to clinics that “perform, promote, refer for, or support abortion as a method of family planning.” It also requires recipients to financially and physically separate their abortion services from their non-abortion services.
Planned Parenthood, which receives an estimated $60 million annually from Title X, chose last year to drop out of the program. Planned Parenthood and other like-minded groups joined a coalition of states in suing the federal government to overturn the rule.
But the Ninth Circuit – often a thorn in the side of social conservatives – sided with the Trump administration. The same lineup of justices last year refused to issue an injunction…
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