On Friday, the Trump administration is filing a request to block abortion-providing facilities (or facilities that share space with an abortionist) from receiving federal family planning funding through the federal grant program.
The nation’s leading abortion provider, Planned Parenthood, is expected to take a massive hit as this is one of the larger subsidies they receive among the $500 million in federal funding per year. They’ve responded to the Trump administration’s move through Dawn Laguens, their executive vice president, who said, “This is an attempt to take away women’s basic rights, period. Under this rule, people will not get the healthcare they need. They won’t get birth control, cancer screenings, STD testing, and treatment, or even general women’s health exams.”
Here’s what people are missing from the Trump administration’s move.
1. This is a valid interpretation of the law.
Back in the 1980s, President Ronald Reagan issued a regulation on Title X (which had been enacted by President Richard Nixon), which was successfully defended by the Supreme Court. It mandated physical and financial segregation of Title X funds “from the performance of, counseling about and referral for abortion.”
It’s essentially a rule that restricts abortion providers from receiving Title X funds. But it was never implemented before it was rolled back by President Bill Clinton, and it hasn’t been revisited until now.
2. Women still have access to healthcare (and abortions).
Planned Parenthood is saying the government is stripping healthcare away from women is a ruse at best. Planned Parenthood can still perform all healthcare-related services, and it can also do abortions, it just won’t receive as much of the $286 million in federal funding.
In fact, this move is intended to divert funds away from abortion providers and clinics to community and rural health centers, which vastly outnumber Planned Parenthood facilities in the U.S. and essentially serve all the same places.
3. Planned Parenthood has plenty of revenue and more than enough wealthy donors to make up for the loss.
According to their 2016-2017 annual report, the nation’s largest abortion provider brought in over $1.4 billion, one-third of which came from taxpayers. In March, President Trump signed a $1.3 trillion spending bill that gave $500 million to Planned Parenthood.
It’s important to note that $259 million of Planned Parenthood’s expenses go to management and, get this, fundraising.
Between the national office and its affiliates, Planned Parenthood spends over $85 million on fundraising, which in turn nets them $532 million in private contributions and bequests.
4. Planned Parenthood finally has their boogeyman in Trump.
Despite a pro-choice past, Trump ran as a pro-life candidate and is governing as a pro-life president. He was the first sitting president to speak directly to the largest organized pro-life march in the March for Life in January.
This has probably been a boon for the organization’s fundraising, judging by all the Democratic fundraising emails that try to motivate donors by citing Trump’s actions against the abortion industry.
