US judge in Yakima blocks new Trump abortion rule

Published 1:30 am Thursday, April 25, 2019

By Gene Johnson / Associated Press

SEATTLE — A U.S. judge in Washington state Thursday blockednew Trump administration rules that would provide additionalhurdles for women seeking abortions, including by banningtaxpayer-funded clinics from making abortion referrals.

Judge Stanley Bastian in Yakima granted the preliminaryinjunction in cases brought by the state and abortion rightsgroups, Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson said. Thenew rules were due to take effect May 3.

“Today’s ruling ensures that clinics across the nation can remainopen and continue to provide quality, unbiased healthcare towomen,” Ferguson, a Democrat, said in an emailed statement.

The ruling came two days after a federal judge in Oregon,hearing a separate challenge by 20 states, said he intended to atleast partially block the rules. That judge, Michael McShane,suggested he was reluctant to issue a nationwide injunction, butsaid the administration’s new policy was motivated by “anarrogant assumption that the government is better suited todirect women’s health care than their providers.”

Title X is a 1970 law designed to improve access to familyplanning services, especially for low-income women and thosein rural areas, but abortion opponents and religiousconservatives say it has long been used to indirectly subsidizeabortion providers.

Abortion is a legal medical procedure, but federal laws prohibitthe use of Title X or other taxpayer funds to pay for abortionsexcept in cases of rape, incest, or to save the life of the woman.

Clinics that receive money under Title X provide a wide array ofservices, including birth control and screening for diabetes,sexually transmitted diseases and cancer. The program serves 4million patients, about 1.6 million of whom obtain servicesthrough Planned Parenthood.

In addition to banning abortion referrals by taxpayer-fundedclinics, the changes would prohibit clinics that receive federalmoney from sharing office space with abortion providers — arule critics said would force many to find new locations, undergoexpensive remodels or shut down.

“All over the country, there are Title X providers looking at theirpatient schedules and wondering what they were going to do,”said Clare Coleman, president of the National Family Planning &Reproductive Health Association, which sued. “Now we knowthat everyone can continue to do their care as they have beendoing for the past 50 years.”

The judge made his ruling from the bench and issued a writtenopinion later Thursday.

“Plaintiffs have demonstrated the Final Rule likely violates thecentral purpose of Title X, which is to equalize access tocomprehensive, evidence-based, and voluntary family planning,”Bastian wrote.

The Department of Health and Human Services declined tocomment, citing a policy of not commenting on litigation.

While the new rules would permit clinic staff to discuss abortionwith clients, they would no longer be required to do so. Ifpatients ask for an abortion referral, staff would be required togive a list of primary care providers with no indication as towhich provide abortions.

The list would have to include providers who do not offerabortions, and it could not include clinics or organizations thataren’t primary care providers, such as Planned Parenthood.

Supporters of the changes say they return Title X’s regulationsback to their original legislative intent that “none of the fundsappropriated under this title shall be used in programs whereabortion is a method of family planning.”

“We’re extremely disappointed that a district judge made aruling — a wrong ruling — that affects the entire nation,” saidMark Miloscia, executive director of the Family Policy Institute ofWashington, which was not involved in the case. “We supportfamily planning, but not giving it through agencies that kill theunborn.”

The legal challenges argue that the changes violate arequirement that patients receive pregnancy counseling that isnot weighted for or against abortion, and that it violates theAffordable Care Act’s prohibition on regulations that impose“unreasonable barriers to the ability of individuals to obtainappropriate medical care.”

Some 98,000 patients in Washington were expected to receivecare through Title X this year, Ferguson said.