President Joe Biden’s decision to rescind a regulation governing the Title X family planning programme that was enforced by the Trump administration “will force abortion” to be part of the programme and “may be unlawful,” said the chairman of the US bishops’ pro-life committee.
“We have long supported efforts to ensure that the provision and promotion of abortion is kept physically and financially out of the pre-pregnancy family planning services provided through the Title X programme,” said Archbishop Joseph Naumann of Kansas City, Kansas, chairman of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Pro-Life Activities.
“Abortion takes the life of an already-conceived and growing child, and most Americans agree that abortion should not be used as a method of family planning or as a ‘back up’ for failed family planning,” he said in a statement January 29.
Started in 1970, the Title X Family Planning Program is a federal grant programme for low-income patients to receive family planning and reproductive health services. It funds services including contraception, testing and treatment for sexually transmitted infections, and breast and cervical cancer screenings.
In February 2019, the Trump administration implemented the “Protect Life Rule” that enforces the Title X rule banning taxpayer funds from being used to promote or provide abortion as family planning. On February 24, 2020, The 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the rule that Biden is revoking.