March 4 (UPI) — California filed a lawsuit Monday challenging the Trump administration’s plans to cut off federal funds to family planning providers that offer and counsel women about abortions.
The plan, announced by the Department of Health and Human Services in February, would require “clear financial and physical separation” between Title X-compliant facilities and those that provide abortions or abortion referrals, the administration said.
The lawsuit seeks a court injunction to prevent the new rule from going into effect in 60 days. A coalition of 20 other states planned to file a similar lawsuit Tuesday, Oregon Gov. Kate Brown said.
“I have worked every single day of my adult life to make sure that women, regardless of where they live, where they come from, or how they identify, have access to comprehensive reproductive healthcare — and I’m certainly not stopping now,” she said.
California Attorney General Xavier Becerra said that with the so-called “gag rule,” the Trump administration “has doubled down on its attacks on women’s health.”
“This illegal Title X rule denies patients access to critical healthcare services and prevents doctors from providing comprehensive and accurate information about medical care. The Trump-Pence administration’s sabotage of Title X services that millions of women across our nation rely on is not only irresponsible, it is dangerous to women’s health. President Trump treats women and their care as if this were 1920, not 2019,” Becerra said.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom said women rely on family planning agencies affected by the rule for healthcare.
“Playing politics with that care is dangerous and grossly irresponsible. Our mothers, wives, sisters and daughters deserve better. We’ll fight this attack on women’s health in court,” he said.
