California, Washington, and Oregon file lawsuits against U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to get Title X funding back for abortionists and lose. The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled on June 20, 2019 that the Trump Administration can implement the Title X regulations announced in February, 2019 by the United States Department of Health and Human Services. These regulations deny health care providers who provide abortion services or refer their patients for abortion services millions of dollars of federal Title X family planning funding. Title X grants will no longer fund abortion. It is estimated that, as a result, Planned Parenthood could lose up to $60 million per year in taxpayer funded Title X grants it had been receiving in clear violation of federal law.

The Title X grant program was first enacted in 1970 with the goal of providing certain types of pre-pregnancy family planning services such as birth control. The States of California, Washington, and Oregon sued the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for the right to continue receiving and utilizing Title X eligible health care funding for abortion providing clinics, even though it is plainly prohibited by federal law.

The Susan B. Anthony List's research arm, the Charlotte Lozier Institute, has done extensive research and a sophisticated statistical analysis exposing the abuse of public funds by abortion providers.  On Tuesday, April 9, 2019 the Thomas More Society filed an important brief on behalf of its client, the Susan B. Anthony List, in support of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and HHS Secretary Alex Azar defending the legality of the new regulations.

The Thomas More Society cited CLI’s research to the court, emphasizing the fact that, "The past misconduct of abortion providers, combined with their own admissions, provide ample proof that the Final Rule is neither arbitrary nor capricious, and that it is in fact a much-needed response to widespread violation of federal law."

Why President Trump Removed Title X Family Planning Funds for Abortions

In the United States, federal law has long prohibited the use of taxpayer funds to provide abortions. And federal law protects healthcare providers that refuse to refer for abortions. Despite this, the Obama Administration enacted regulations that took effect two days before President Trump's inauguration that awarded Title X grants to abortion providers in violation of federal law. It was no surprise then, that the Obama Administration's illegal Title X regulations died an unnatural death. In April of 2017 President Trump signed into law a joint resolution of Congress rescinding the regulations.

The Congressional Review Act gives Congress the power to rescind regulations enacted by federal administrative agencies and this is exactly how Obama’s regulations issued in December 2016 eventually died.

Federal Law Prohibits HHS From Awarding Title X Family Planning Grants to Fund Abortion

President Trump's HHS rescinded the Obama administration's illegal regulations and replaced them with regulations that are authorized by and comply with the law passed by the U.S. Congress known as “Title X”. Trump’s HHS put out a “Proposed rule” on June 1, 2018 and took public comments through July 31^st, 2018. Then HHS considered the comments and published the “Final rule” in the Federal Register on March 4, 2019. Trump’s HHS did all of this by following the steps for lawfully enacting regulations, which is the “rule-making process” that is set forth in the federal statute passed by Congress and called the Administrative Procedure Act – the APA.

According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services own website, "Pursuant to Congressional mandate, family participation is to be encouraged, particularly in services involving adolescents. And, from the start, Congress was clear that Title X funds cannot be used to support abortion."

The new Title X regulations would have gone into effect on May 3, 2019, but a group of states and abortions providers filed lawsuits against HHS in Washington, Oregon, and California to try to stop the enforcement of the regulations. Federal judges in all three states ordered injunctions prohibiting HHS from enforcing the regulations. HHS appealed those orders to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, which consolidated the three cases and reversed all three lower court decisions in one opinion published on June 20, 2019.

Thomas More Society's Brief Opposes Improper Awards of Title X Funding to Abortion Providers

Title X requires that organizations that receive Title X grants be both physically and financially separate from abortion providers. The new HHS regulations are intended to stop the government from awarding Title X grants to recipients in violation of this very clear requirement of Title X. "There has been widespread violation of Section 1008’s prohibition on using Title X funds to subsidize programs in which abortion is a method of family planning." The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals agreed with the Thomas More Society and lifted the injunction, thereby allowing the new regulations to go into effect.

Read the full texts:

State of California v. Azar -- Amicus Brief

State of California v. Azar -- Motion for Leave to File

Becerra v. HHS - Order Granting Stay of Title X Injunction - Ninth Circuit - 6-20-19