President Trump will announce major funding cuts to Planned Parenthood on Friday.
Through an executive order, Trump plans to cut up to $260 million annually in federal funding, under Title X, a program that funds “contraception” and “family planning” initiatives.
While Title X, passed in 1970, doesn’t specifically allow taxpayer-funded abortions directly, the law has been interpreted over the decades to allow funding for clinics that house abortion clinics, pro-abortion lobbying, and programs that promote abortion.
Trump’s executive order would remove those “interpretations.”
“The proposal would require a bright line of physical as well as financial separation between Title X programs and any program (or facility) where abortion is performed, supported, or referred for as a method of family planning,” explained an anonymous Trump official, as reported by the Weekly Standard.
Trump has presided over one of the most pro-life administrations in modern history.
In March 2017, he signed a law that would allow states to defund Planned Parenthood. In January 2018, he became the first sitting President to speak at the annual March for Life in Washington.
While the bulk of Planned Parenthood’s funding is untouchable by executive order—it comes directly from programs authorized by Congress, not the White House—it’s clear that President Trump is doing his part to ensure taxpayer dollars aren’t funding abortion.