Ernst Leads Opposition to Biden Administration’s Efforts to Direct Tax Dollars to Abortion Providers
In a public comment letter to Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) Xavier Becerra, the Iowa senator and her colleagues are urging Secretary Becerra to withdraw the Proposed Rule on the Title X family planning program, which would eliminate the previous administration’s 2019 Protect Life Rule
WASHINGTON—U.S. Senator Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) is leading an effort opposing the Biden Administration’s efforts to direct tax dollars to abortion providers. In a public comment letter to Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) Xavier Becerra, Ernst and her colleagues are urging Secretary Becerra to withdraw the Proposed Rule on the Title X family planning program, which would eliminate the previous administration’s 2019 Protect Life Rule. If finalized, the Proposed Rule would direct tens of millions of taxpayer dollars to enrich Planned Parenthood and the abortion industry.
In the letter, Ernst and her fellow senators write, “The Proposed Rule would allow Title X funds to support programs where abortion is a method of family planning, contrary to law, and, impose onerous and illegal mandates for Title X projects to counsel and refer for abortion. As Members of Congress, we have a unique Constitutional interest and oversight role in ensuring regulations governing the Title X program comport with the law and Congressional intent.”
They go on to say, “Abortion is not family planning; it is family destruction…The Proposed Rule defies the law and would siphon tens of millions of taxpayer dollars in Title X funding towards Planned Parenthood and the abortion industry, to the detriment of American taxpayers, the consciences of health care providers, and the lives of unborn children.”
To read the full letter, click here.
The letter has the support of Susan B. Anthony List, Family Research Council, National Right to Life, March for Life, Concerned Women for America, U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, HHS Accountability Project scholars at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, Heritage Action, and Americans United for Life.
Background:
Last month, Senator Ernst put forward legislation that would prevent any taxpayer dollars from going to Planned Parenthood, the nation’s single largest provider of abortions. Instead, the bill redirects those funds to other eligible women's health care providers while ensuring there is no reduction in federal funding for women’s health services.
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