SHARON SLATER | PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE
Please Comment on Draft Regulations That Will Stop Federal Title X Funds From Going to Abortion Providers
July 2, 2018
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SHARON SLATER,
FWI PRESIDENT
Dear Friend of the Family,
U.S. citizens can weigh in now (see instructions below) in support of a proposed regulation that would prohibit most federal funds from going to entities that provide abortion. Current law prohibits using federal funds to pay for abortions directly (except in very limited circumstances). Current law (Title X of the National Health Services Act) also provides for funding for family planning services. However, organizations like Planned Parenthood that also perform abortions in addition to providing family planning services have been benefitting from these Title X funds. For example, last year, Planned Parenthood received about $60 million from Title X.
There are two problems with this. One is a clear conflict of interest since Planned Parenthood has an incentive to steer the Title X clients for whom it is providing family planning services toward its highly profitable abortion side of the organization.
Second, since money is fungible, using Title X money to support family planning activities in the same building where the organization performs abortions can serve as an indirect federal subsidy.
The proposed rule would prohibit funding for the facilities which are co-located with abortion providers and would put some restrictions on referrals from Title X clinics directly to abortionists.
If the new regulation is adopted, Title X money that is now going to organizations like Planned Parenthood would be diverted to other federally recognized health and family planning clinics. Since other clinics already outnumber Planned Parenthood clinics by about 20:1, there should be no reduction in the services available to current Planned Parenthood clients.
This rule is currently open for public comment before it is finalized, and as you can imagine, thousands of comments are flooding in. There is a major effort by pro-abortion groups to get an overwhelming number of comments in opposition to it. I hope you will help us stop them from accomplishing that.
Commenting is simple. It can be done in a few minutes, and you can comment anonymously if you prefer. Instructions on how to comment and a short sample comment are provided below.
Please take a few minutes and comment in support of this rule. It is one thing every one of us can do to support unborn life. And please forward this alert to all of your pro-life friends and family to help us get the word out.
Sincerely,
Sharon Slater
How to Comment on the “Protect Life Rule.”
Go to this link and fill in the information requested. Note that you can comment anonymously.
In the “comment” box you can say that you support the rule to restrict Title X funding from going to organizations that refer to abortion providers or actually perform abortions themselves. Comments do not have to be long, since what is most important is that your comment is counted on the “support” side of comment process.
Below is a sample comment that you can cut and paste into the box on the form and also modify if you wish.
I strongly support this proposed rule that will restrict Title X funding from going to any organizations that provide abortions themselves or refer directly to an abortion provider.
Abortion is not an acceptable method of family planning, and it is not health care. There must be no federal funding, even indirect funding, in support of abortion.
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