The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission has joined a large group of federal lawmakers in urging the Trump administration to reinstate a policy designed to prevent Title X family planning funds from benefiting organizations connected to abortion services.
According to Baptist Press, 159 members of Congress, including several Southern Baptist lawmakers, have joined the effort to restore the Protect Life Rule, a policy implemented during President Donald Trump’s first administration.
The policy required organizations receiving Title X grants to maintain complete physical and financial separation between federally funded family planning services and any abortion-related activities.
Current Title X guidelines differ significantly from those requirements. Under existing regulations, participating providers may present abortion as one of several family planning options when counseling patients.
In a letter sent May 28 to Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., lawmakers called for the return of what they described as a clear boundary between federally funded family planning programs and abortion-related services. The letter specifically cited Planned Parenthood as a major beneficiary of Title X funding.
“History confirms that without the Protect Life Rule, Title X serves as a funding stream for the abortion industry. For example, between 2013 and 2015, Title X funds made up over $170 million of Planned Parenthood’s expenditures,” the lawmakers said.
Title X, administered by the Office of Population Affairs within the Department of Health and Human Services, is the nation’s only dedicated source of federal funding for family planning services. Through a network of participating health centers, the program provides preventive healthcare services such as cancer screenings, sexually transmitted infection prevention, HIV-related care and contraceptive counseling.
Restoring the Protect Life Rule would create a clearer line of separation between family planning services and abortion providers, ERLC President Evan Lenow told Baptist Press.
“Currently, the federal government cannot pay for abortions or abortion-related counseling, but this rule would go one step further,” Lenow said.
“Beyond prohibiting the federal funding of abortion, this rule also bars the funding of entities that offer these horrendous services. The ERLC was glad to garner support for this timely congressional letter asking the Trump administration to reinstate the Protect Life Rule.”
