U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) led over 25 of her Republican colleagues in introducing legislation to close loopholes that allow Title X family planning funds to go to entities that perform abortions, including Planned Parenthood.

“Abortion providers have a long history of misappropriating taxpayer dollars to quietly fund the industry, and we must close those loopholes,” said Senator Blackburn. “The Title X Abortion Provider Prohibition Act will help end taxpayer funded support for the abortion industry and protect the unborn.”

Blackburn was joined by Senators Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), John Thune (R-S.D.), Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), James Lankford (R-Okla.), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.), James Risch (R-Idaho), Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Todd Young (R-Ind.), Steve Daines (R-Mont.), Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), Mike Braun (R-Ind.), Rick Scott (R-Fla.), Mike Lee (R-Utah), Roger Marshall (R-Kan.), Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), Mitt Romney (R-Utah), Tim Scott (R-S.C.), John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), John Hoeven (R-N.D.), Katie Britt (R-Ala.), and Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla).

The legislation is endorsed by Susan B Anthony Pro-Life America, Americans United for Life, Concerned Women for America Legislative Action Committee, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Committee on Pro-Life Activities, March for Life, National Right to Life Committee, and Students for Life Action.  

The Title X Abortion Provider Prohibition Act:

• Amends the Public Health Service Act to prohibit the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) from providing federal family planning grants to entities that perform abortions, or provide funds to entities that perform abortions.
• Strips abortion giant Planned Parenthood and other Title X clinics of taxpayer funding that ought to go to comprehensive healthcare alternatives instead. 
• Makes exceptions for abortions where: (1) the pregnancy is a result of rape or incest; or (2) a physician certifies that the woman suffers from a physical disorder, injury, or illness that would place the woman in danger of death unless an abortion is performed, including a condition caused by or arising from the pregnancy. Hospitals are exempted unless they provide funds to non-hospital entities that perform abortions. 
• Requires that HHS provide an annual report to Congress that includes: (1) information on grantees who perform abortions under the exceptions; and (2) a list of entities to which grant funds are made available.

BACKGROUND:

• Since 1976, federal law has prohibited use of federal funds for abortions.
• A January 2023 Marist poll found that 60 percent of Americans oppose using tax dollars for abortion.
• Section 1008 of the Public Health Service Act explicitly states that Title X funds “shall not be used in programs where abortion is a method of family planning,” but Clinton-era rules require all grantees to refer patients for abortions and allow abortion facilities to be co-located within Title X clinics.
• As a result, Planned Parenthood clinics that receive federal family planning funds can share the same facility, staff, and waiting room as abortion clinics, and often refer women for on-site abortions.

Full text of the legislation is available here.

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