Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., accused the Trump administration’s plan to shorten family planning grants from one year to six months of being part of a larger strategy to hasten the implementation of proposed rules that cut funding to Planned Parenthood.
“Shortening these grants is a gimmick, plain and simple — and it’s all about moving as quickly as possible to undermine healthcare access for millions of people and to gag providers from discussing the full range of reproductive care options with patients,” she said in a statement Thursday.
The Trump administration released earlier this year a series of proposed changes to the family planning grant program, which offers funding to clinics to provide contraception and preventive health services. The administration sought to cut funding to Planned Parenthood and clinics that provide abortions. It also wants to restrict doctors from referring patients for abortions.
The shortening of the grant duration would go into effect for fiscal 2018 grants. The administration said earlier this month that it would continue to give grants to Planned Parenthood while it considers the changes.
A shorter grant would mean those changes can go into effect faster, Murray charges.
Democrats have decried the changes, calling the restriction for doctors a “gag rule,” and the funding cuts an attack on women’s health.
Defunding Planned Parenthood has been a longtime goal for Republicans, even though a federal law already prohibits federal funds from going to cover abortions. Republicans are skeptical that Planned Parenthood doesn’t use the funding to help pay for abortions.
Health and Human Services responded that when it announced the grants earlier this month the agency noted that the periods could be shorter than normal. The grants are expected to be distributed by Sept. 1.
