Washington D.C., Oct 4, 2021 / 16:10 pm
The Biden administration will allow Planned Parenthood and other clinics providing abortions to once again receive federal family planning funds, although the funds cannot directly pay for abortions.
In a final rule announced on Monday, clinics participating in the Title X family planning program – which funds contraceptives and family planning services for low-income communities – can once again refer for abortions, and do not have to be physically separate from abortion facilities.
In 2019, the Trump administration had required Title X recipients to not refer for abortions, nor could clinic recipients be co-located with abortion facilities.
The rule was issued to help ensure separation of Title X funding from abortion. Under the original statute that created the program in 1970, federal grants would fund contraceptives for low-income women, but would not fund abortion as a method of family planning.