(Life Site News) The Trump administration may exclude the abortion industry from federal family planning funds, thanks to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals’ decision not to review an earlier decision in the case siding with the White House.
The Protect Life Rule requires “clear financial and physical separation between Title X-funded projects and programs or facilities where abortion is a method of family planning” and bans “referral for abortion as a method of family planning.” The abortion lobby has responded with multiple lawsuits, and Planned Parenthood chose to withdraw from Title X rather than comply with what they call a “gag rule.”
A three-judge panel of the 9th Circuit lifted a temporary injunction against enforcing the rule last June, and the full court affirmed that decision in February, predicting that lawsuits brought in California, Oregon, and Washington “will not succeed” on the merits.
READ: Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals upholds Trump administration’s Protect Life Rule
Last week, the 9th Circuit denied the abortion lobby’s request to have its February judgment reconsidered by a different 11-judge panel or by all 29 judges on the court, Bloomberg reported.
“The full court has been advised of the petitions, and no judge has requested a vote on whether to rehear the matter as a full court,” the denial simply stated.
A different ruling against the administration, from the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals, means the Protect Life Rule cannot be enforced within Maryland for the time being.
The Protect Life Rule is projected to cut almost $60 million from the $616 million Planned Parenthood received during the most recent fiscal year. The incoming presidential and congressional elections in November will decide whether funding to the abortion industry is further restricted or restored next year.
Editor’s Note: This article was published at Life Site News and is reprinted here with permission.
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