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Marco Rubio among group of Republican lawmakers introducing bill to defund planned parenthood

The lawmakers say the piece of legislation is a response to the Biden administration's proposed decision to reverse a Trump-era abortion rule.
Credit: AP
Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., speaks during a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on Capitol Hill on Tuesday, Feb. 23, 2021 in Washington. (Drew Angerer/Photo via AP)

Senator Marco Rubio, R-FL, is among a group of several Republicans in Congress who've introduced a bill that would prevent Planned Parenthood from receiving federal funds.

The lawmakers say the piece of legislation is a response to the Biden administration's proposed decision on Wednesday to reverse a Trump-era abortion rule. Back in March 2019, Trump forbade providers that referred patients for abortions from receiving federal funds to cover certain services like contraception and STD screenings.

Known as Title X, the federal family planning program has been in place for decades. It makes available about $286 million annually in grants that support clinics serving mainly low-income women. 

Those clinics, which provide birth control and basic health care services such as cancer screenings, have been whipsawed by Trump-era battles over ideology and by the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on health services providers. Before exiting the program in 2019, Planned Parenthood and its affiliates served an estimated 40 percent of the patients.

RELATED: Biden begins to undo Trump's ban on abortion referrals

"Taxpayer dollars should never be used to fund organizations that perform abortions, an inhumane practice that a substantial percentage of Americans have a strong moral objection to," Rubio said in a statement. "Planned Parenthood should never receive federal funding, and this legislation would make that a reality."

Under Rubio's proposed Protect Funding for Women's Health Care Act, Planned Parenthood or any of its affiliates would be prohibited from receiving any federal funds. However, the bill says it will protect federal funding for health services for women, including cervical and breast cancer screenings. 

By law, federal family planning funds could not be used to pay for abortions, but religious conservatives long regarded the program as a form of indirect subsidy to Planned Parenthood, the nation's largest provider of abortions.

The Biden administration estimated that as a result of the Trump policy changes in 2019 the program serves about 1.5 million fewer women a year, a 37 percent reduction from the average caseload from 2016-18. HHS also estimated that the Trump administration's changes may have led to up to 180,000 unintended pregnancies.

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