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A second federal judge has blocked a gag rule that would have stripped federal funding known as Title X for Planned Parenthood and other clinics that refer patients for abortions or even mention abortion as an option. The judge’s ruling halts the rule, which was announced by President Trump in February and was scheduled to go into effect on May 3. Washington state Federal Judge Stanley Bastian ruled against the changes to Title X funding Thursday, saying they would require clinics “to face a Hobson’s choice that harms patients as well as the providers.” This came two days after an Oregon judge issued a preliminary injunction to stop the gag order from going into effect, calling the rule a “ham-fisted approach to public health policy.” Title X covers non-abortion services like STD prevention, cancer screenings and contraception, and provides over $280 million in funding for 4 million mostly low-income women every year. We speak with the president of Planned Parenthood, Dr. Leana Wen. She says the gag rule would force doctors “to compromise the oath that we took to serve our patients.”
AMY GOODMAN: Well, I want to turn to the Trump administration’s attack on reproductive rights here in the United States. A second federal judge has blocked a gag rule that would have stripped federal funding known as Title X for Planned Parenthood and other clinics that refer patients for abortion or even mention abortion as an option. The judge’s ruling halts the gag rule, which was announced by President Trump in February and was scheduled to go into effect May 3rd. Washington state Federal Judge Stanley Bastian ruled against the changes to Title X funding Thursday, saying they would require clinics “to face a Hobson’s choice that harms patients as well as the providers.” This came two days after an Oregon judge issued a preliminary injunction to stop the gag order from going into effect, calling the rule a “ham-fisted approach to public health policy.” Oregon Federal Judge Michael McShane said, quote, “At the heart of these rules is an arrogant assumption that the government is better suited to direct women’s health care than their providers,” he said.
Title X covers non-abortion services like STD prevention, cancer screenings, contraception; provides over $280 million in funding for 4 million mostly low-income women every year.
Talk about the significance of what happened this week in two states, two federal judges saying no to the Trump administration, and what the Trump administration is trying to do with this gag order that was supposed to go into effect next week, Dr. Wen.
DR. LEANA WEN: What the Trump administration is trying to do with this gag rule is to prevent doctors from fulfilling our ethical obligation. When I became a doctor, I took an oath that I would always provide honest, full and accurate information to my patients. To restrict what I can say, to have the Trump administration or any politician telling me what I can and cannot say to my patients, is just unethical, unconscionable and, frankly, unthinkable. This is the reason why over a hundred medical, nursing, public health groups, including the American Medical Association, American Nurses Association, American Public Health Association, have stood up in strong opposition to this Title X gag rule, because we know that it would force us to compromise the oath that we took to serve our patients, and also that it would not happen for any other aspect of healthcare. I mean, how ludicrous would it be if doctors now cannot tell our patients who come for insulin and who have diabetes—if we cannot tell them about where they can go to get insulin, a life-saving and life-changing treatment?
And so, this ruling is important because it is a preliminary injunction that blocks this gag rule from taking effect. It also continues to allow Planned Parenthood and other health centers to continue serving millions of patients around the country who depend on us for primary and preventive services. As you said, Amy, Title X provides for affordable birth control, breast and cervical cancer screenings, STI treatment, HIV testing. In many parts of the country, this is the only way that individuals with low income, who live in rural areas, are able to get access to healthcare. And taking that away, we know the consequence, which is that people are going to delay getting healthcare. Cancers are going to end up getting diagnosed later. There will be increased rates of STIs and unintended pregnancies. That’s what happens when people cannot get the reproductive healthcare that they need.
AMY GOODMAN: So, again, give us the scenario. A woman comes into your office, and she says, “What are my options?” If this gag rule were in effect, if she’s just learned that she was pregnant, you, as a doctor, would not be able to even say—forget referring her somewhere or to a Planned Parenthood clinic even, you couldn’t even say, “Your options are keeping the baby or terminating the pregnancy”? You couldn’t say “terminating the pregnancy,” “abortion”?
DR. LEANA WEN: Well, here’s the thing. Congress has made it very clear, by passing laws about it before, that physicians and nurses and providers must be able to provide the full range of options, because that’s what medicine is about. It’s not up to me as the doctor to tell my patients what they should do. My obligation is to provide all the information and empower my patients to make the best decisions for themselves.
Under this gag rule, if a patient came to me and I work at a clinic that receives Title X federal funding, I would not even be able to provide a referral to a woman even if she’s specifically asking for a referral for abortion care. And it’s not even clear what I would be allowed to do if it’s medically necessary in order to save her health; if she has a life-threatening condition, a condition that threatens her health, if I’m able to make referral in that case.
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