Three national reproductive rights groups are suing the Trump administration to protect Title X, the nation’s birth-control and reproductive health program.
The two lawsuits filed Wednesday—one by National Family Planning & Reproductive Health Association and American Civil Liberties Union—focus on guidance issued in February by the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Population Affairs.
The document, known as a Federal Opportunity Announcement [FOA], calls for a broad range of family planning services and makes multiple mentions of "fertility awareness"—also known as the rhythm method or natural family planning—but does not specifically mention contraception.
"This is a radical shift, and the way the FOA is written, it just flies in the face of the best medical practice," said Tanya Atkinson, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin, one of the plaintiffs. "It is a radical shift that could have a big impact on people's health."
Planned Parenthood, filing as well on behalf of its affiliates in Utah and Ohio, is asking the court to block the FOA. They argue that the new funding criteria defy Congress's intent for the program, which is to provide family planning services. The lawsuits come as the Trump administration is set to ban Title X grants to clinics that also offer abortion services—which of course includes a large number of Planned Parenthood clinics.
This is the Trump administration working toward two goals: destroying Planned Parenthood and getting the federal government out of protecting women's reproductive health care and rights. It's how they're keeping the evangelicals so firmly aboard the S.S. Trump. Who cares about the fact that he had sex with an adult film actress when his fifth child with his third wife was just four months old? He's going to put women back in their place.