White House wants restrictions on abortion services

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration moved Friday to place new restrictions on access to abortion, as the Health and Human Services Department prepared new regulations that would effectively bar organizations that receive federal family planning money from providing abortions or counseling mothers about the procedure.

The much-anticipated proposal — which has not yet been officially issued as a rule — would greatly expand limits on what activities organizations such as Planned Parenthood can provide.

And it almost certainly will set off a new legal battle over abortion services.

According to the White House, the proposal would require recipients of Title X family planning funds to establish a “bright line of physical as well as financial separation” between federally-funded family planning services and any programs where abortion services are performed or discussed.

The administration argues that this is not a “gag rule” that would prohibit discussions of abortion services.

But the proposal would greatly expand long-standing restrictions on the use of federal funds. Currently abortion providers must ensure that no federal money is used to pay for the procedure.

And many family planning advocates believe that the new rule, if implemented, would make it effectively impossible for counselors to talk freely with pregnant mothers about their options.

“This ‘gag rule’ is not only unconscionable, but it undermines medical ethics by forcing healthcare professionals to withhold accurate and timely medical information from patients,” said Dr. Jenn Conti, a fellow with Physicians for Reproductive Health.

“As a provider of comprehensive reproductive health care, it is my number one priority to keep my patients safe and honor the trust they give me. If I can’t mention the word ‘abortion,’ then I am not providing my pregnant patients who want to know all of their options with complete, accurate, unbiased medical information.”

Abortion opponents have been lobbying hard for new restrictions, pushing the Trump administration to extend the new limits on federal funding.

And the White House on Friday cast the new proposal as the latest in the administration’s moves to fulfill Trump’s campaign promise to restrict access to abortion services.