Young introduces legislation to close loopholes allowing taxpayer-funded abortions

Submitted by Office of U.S. Senator Todd Young

Young

U.S. Senator Todd Young (R-Ind.) and Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) introduced the Title X Abortion Provider Prohibition Act to ban federal Title X family-planning grants from going to any entity (like Planned Parenthood) that performs abortions or funds abortion providers.

“Title X was designed to provide moms and children with necessary family planning services, not fund abortions,” Sen. Young said. “This legislation will protect life and ensure taxpayer dollars are protected from taking innocent lives.”

The Title X Family Planning Program is intended to assist low-income women with family planning services. Unfortunately, this program has a history of subsidizing massive organizations that engage in abortion activities such as Planned Parenthood. Since 1976, federal law has prohibited use of federal funds for abortions.

Section 1008 of the Public Health Service Act explicitly states that Title X funds “shall not be used in programs where abortion is a method of family planning,” but Clinton-era rules require all grantees to refer patients for abortions and allow abortion facilities to be co-located within Title X clinics.

As a result, Planned Parenthood clinics that receive federal family planning funds can share the same facility, staff, and waiting room as abortion clinics, and often refer women for on-site abortions.

Additional co-sponsors of this legislation include Senators Bill Cassidy (R-La.), James Lankford (R-Okla.), Steve Daines (R-Mont.), Jim Risch (R-Idaho), Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.), Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.), Katie Britt (R-Ala.), Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), Roger Marshall (R-Kan.), and Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.).

The Title X Abortion Provider Prohibition Act would:

• Amend the Public Health Service Act to prohibit the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) from providing federal family-planning grants to entities that perform abortions, or provide funds to entities that perform abortions;
• Strip the abortion giant Planned Parenthood and other Title X clinics of taxpayer funding that ought to go to comprehensive healthcare alternatives instead; and
• Require that HHS provide an annual report to Congress that includes: information on grantees who perform abortions under the exceptions; and a list of entities to which grant funds are made available.

This legislation is supported by Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, Concerned Women for America Legislative Action Committee, March for Life Action, National Right to Life Committee, Americans United for Life, and the Students for Life Action.

Click here to read the full text of the bill.