In the final days of his presidency, Barack Obama’s administration enacted a new regulation through the Department of Health & Human Services to require states to provide funding to abortion providers through the Title X family planning services block grant program.
In essence, it was a “backdoor funding” mechanism for Planned Parenthood, meant to counter the many states that were following through with their citizens’ demands to defund the abortion giant. But that means of providing taxpayer support for abortionists could soon come to an end.
The House of Representatives voted 230-188 to repeal the regulation. Two Republicans and two Democrats crossed party lines. Rep. Diane Black (R-Tenn.) drafted the House version of the legislation, while Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) authored the Senate companion, which will likely take up the measure soon.
Black and Ernst co-authored an op-ed published in the Washington Examiner to explain the bill. They wrote, in part:
Rarely do the American people benefit when the federal government attempts to subvert the will of the people’s elected representatives and substitute its judgment for that of state or local governments. State legislatures around the country have spoken out about their preference for prioritizing more comprehensive primary and preventative care providers for the receipt of Title X funding, and their voice should be respected by bureaucrats in the federal government.
The legislation has more than 130 co-sponsors, all Republicans, between the two chambers. For states that have voted to “defund” Planned Parenthood, this would be the final means by which they can remove all taxpayer funding to the abortion giant. {eoa}
