Abortion care in Texas is about to become a lot more restrictive, thanks to executive action by President Donald Trump, Newsradio 1200 WOAI reports.
The White House has rolled out a proposal that would effectively ban federal grants to organizations that provide both health care and abortions under the same roof, even if the procedure is privately funded.
It's a victory for groups like the Texas Alliance for Life, which have long sought protection for taxpayer dollars, which they felt were co-mingled with private funds.
"Tax dollars should not be going to organizations that provide abortions or promote abortion as family planning," director Dr. Joe Pojman tells Newsradio 1200 WOAI.
Congress has long supported the Hyde amendment, which prohibits the use of competitive federal family-planning grant funds for abortion. Organizations like Planned Parenthood have set up a financial fire wall, allowing them to segregate private donations for donations from the general budget, allowing the procedure to be performed at the same location, sometimes by the same staff.
Pojman feels the president's actions will be up in court.
"We know it's constitutional because the United States Supreme Court has upheld a similar rule put out by President George H.W. Bush when he was president," he says.
That rule was spiked by the Clinton administration.
In Texas, the only organization that would affected is Planned Parenthood. However, abortion provider Whole Women’s Health says the broader implications of this would be devastating.
"First, it would impose new rules that are designed to make it impossible for millions of patients to get birth control or preventive care from reproductive health care providers like Planned Parenthood,” they say in a statement. “Second, under this rule doctors, nurses, hospitals, and community health centers across the country could no longer refer their patients for safe, legal abortion.”
They say it also removes the guarantee that patients are getting full and accurate information about health care from doctors."
"For nearly two decades, Title X law has been clear: health care providers cannot withhold information from you about your pregnancy options."
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