Page 4 - ARUBA TODAY

A4 U.S. NEWS
Thursday 31 May 2018

Trump remaking federal policy on women's reproductive health

By RICARDO ALONSO- tary of Health and Human
ZALDIVAR and DAVID Services under President
CRARY Barack Obama, and a sup-
Associated Press porter of abortion rights.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Step "This is playing politics and
by methodical step, the putting people in a very
Trump administration is re- precarious situation."
making government policy In addition to the proposed
on reproductive health — changes to Title X, other
moving to limit access to regulatory actions include:
birth control and abortion — Proposing a shift in the
and bolstering abstinence- Teen Pregnancy Preven-
only sex education. tion Program to emphasize
Social and religious conser- an abstinence-only ap-
vatives praise the adminis- proach.
tration for promoting "a cul- — Proposing new criteria
ture of life." But women's- for federal family-planning
rights activists and some grants that would favor ap-
medical experts view the plicants who promote "nat-
multi-pronged changes as ural family planning" and
a dangerous ideological abstinence.
shift that could increase — Expanding a ban on U.S.
unintended pregnancies funding to foreign orga-
and abortions. In this Jan. 5, 2017 file photo, Rep. Diana DeGette, D-Colo. speaks during a news conference nizations that promote or
"When I ran for office, I discussing women's health care on Capitol Hill in Washington. provide abortions.
pledged to stand for life," Associated Press Professor Michael New,
President Donald Trump abortion rights supporters. affect women's access to ning and isn't cutting fund- who teaches economics
said in a recent speech Unlike regulatory changes, long-acting contracep- ing — merely drawing a at Ave Maria University in
to the Susan B. Anthony judicial appointments can- tives, such as implants and "bright line" between birth Florida, agrees there's a
List, which backs political not be reversed by a future IUDs. Those are more effec- control and abortion. Offi- major policy shift. But New,
candidates who oppose president. tive than daily pills that can cials say the doctor-patient who opposes abortion, dis-
abortion. "And as presi- Democrats say Trump is be forgotten but also much relationship is protected misses claims of dire con-
dent, that's exactly what changing policy in ways more expensive up-front. because if a woman asks sequences as "false and
I've done. And I have kept that could disrupt access Eight professional groups for an abortion referral, Title frankly absurd."
my promise, and I think ev- to family planning for some representing doctors, nurs- X doctors could offer a list "President Trump is decid-
erybody here understands women. es, midwives and physi- of pregnancy services pro- edly pro-life and it is his
that fully." A recently proposed rule cian assistants say the Title viders, including some who administration's preroga-
Most of the changes in- would make major chang- X proposal "dangerously perform abortions. tive to use federal fund-
volve rules and regulations es to Title X, the family- intrudes" on the patient- Abortion is legal, but under ing rules to incrementally
under the administration's planning program, includ- provider relationship. That longstanding law and reg- build a culture of life," said
direct control, such as a ing banning clinics from could lead to more un- ulations, taxpayer money New. "The administration is
proposal to forbid feder- sharing physical space and planned pregnancies, cannot be used to pay for seeking to redirect tax dol-
ally funded family plan- financial resources with medical complications abortions. Planned Parent- lars away from entities like
ning clinics from referring abortion providers. Provid- and undiagnosed diseases. hood, a major provider of Planned Parenthood that
women for abortions and ers like Planned Parent- "The strange thing about both kinds of services, can treat abortion as a method
separately allowing more hood could be forced out. this is that people who want receive federal family- of family planning and to-
employers who cite moral "It's across the spectrum of to decrease the number of planning grants while sepa- ward entities that affirm life
or religious reasons to opt women's health services," abortions are taking away rately providing abortions. and provide more holistic
out of no-cost birth control said Rep. Diana DeGette, access to the very services Trump's changes come health care services."
for women workers. D-Col. "They're proposing that help prevent them," at a time when U.S. rates Planned Parenthood,
Trump also is appointing nu- abstinence-only sex edu- said Dr. Hal Lawrence, CEO of births overall, births to which survived attempts by
merous new federal judges cation —which study after of the American College teens, and abortions are congressional Republicans
endorsed by anti-abortion study has shown doesn't of Obstetricians and Gyne- low. to deny it funding, says the
groups. work— restrictions to fam- cologists, one of the eight "If we were seeing skyrock- administration's proposed
Justice Neil Gorsuch, the ily planning, and more and groups. Among the others eting abortion rates and changes to Title X could be
president's only appoint- more restrictions to abor- are the American College wildly high numbers on another way of achieving
ment to the Supreme Court tion." of Nurse-Midwives and the teen births, you could say the same goal. Planned
so far, has a sparse record Title X serves about 4 million American Academy of Pe- we have a crisis, but this Parenthood serves 41 per-
on abortion, but has drawn low-income people, mainly diatrics.The administration is just the opposite," said cent of program clients,
praise from anti-abortion women. Disruptions could says it supports family plan- Kathleen Sebelius, secre- and operates 13 percent
groups and criticism from of the clinics."q