U.S. Senator Young leads effort to prevent taxpayer funded abortions

Thursday, U.S. Senator Todd Young (R-Ind.) led a letter encouraging the Trump Administration to reinstate the Protect Life Rule, which would ensure Title X family planning funds cannot be used to provide abortions or abortion referrals. U.S. Senators Ted Budd (R-N.C.), Steve Daines (R-Mont.), Bill Cassidy (R-La.), Jim Risch (R-Idaho), Jim Banks (R-Ind.), Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.), Ted Cruz (R-Texas), John Cornyn (R-Texas), and Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) signed the letter.

The Protect Life Rule was proposed and finalized by the first Trump Administration in 2019. In 2021, the Biden Administration rescinded the rule and withheld funds from at least two states for refusing to refer women for abortions. Reinstating this rule will prevent American taxpayer dollars from funding abortions and protect innocent lives.

“During your first term in March 2019, your Administration proposed and finalized the Protect Life Rule. That Rule ensured that Title X family planning funds could no longer flow to clinics that perform, promote, or refer for abortions, and required clear physical and financial separation between Title X-funded projects and abortion facilities…While the Biden-Harris Administration moved swiftly to undo this progress by rescinding the Rule, we stand ready to support your Administration in reinstating the policy by promulgating a new proposed rule with the same objective,” the senators wrote.

The letter is supported by Indiana Right to Life, SBA Pro-Life America, Ethics and Public Policy Center, National Right to Life, CatholicVote, March for Life Action, Pre-Born!, Heartbeat International, Family Policy Alliance, Americans United for Life, American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists, Concerned Women for America Legislative Action Committee, Students for Life Action, and Live Action.

Full text of the letter can be found here and below:

Dear President Trump,

We write to express our deep appreciation for your steadfast commitment to the pro-life cause and for the meaningful victories your Administration has delivered on behalf of the most vulnerable among us. Across two terms, you have given voice to the voiceless through a slate of consequential judicial nominations, a landmark Dobbs decision, and necessary executive action to disentangle federal taxpayers from the abortion industry. The American people elected you, in part, because they trust you to protect innocent life, and you have delivered on that trust.

During your first term in March 2019, your Administration proposed and finalized the Protect Life Rule. That Rule ensured that Title X family planning funds could no longer flow to clinics that perform, promote, or refer for abortions, and required clear physical and financial separation between Title X-funded projects and abortion facilities. As a direct result, organizations such as Planned Parenthood were removed from the program when they refused to comply, redirecting those funds to community health centers and other providers that offer genuine family planning services without promoting abortion. While the Biden-Harris Administration moved swiftly to undo this progress by rescinding the Rule, we stand ready to support your Administration in reinstating the policy by promulgating a new proposed rule with the same objective.

We further wish to note that the principles underlying the Protect Life Rule are firmly rooted in the text of Title X itself. Section 1008 of the Public Health Service Act has always prohibited the use of Title X funds "in programs where abortion is a method of family planning." Your first Administration honored that statutory mandate; the Biden-Harris Administration abandoned it.

We believe this is an important moment, and we are committed to working alongside your Administration every step of the way. We stand prepared to support the rulemaking process. The American taxpayer should not be forced to be complicit in the taking of innocent life.

We thank you for your continued leadership on behalf of the unborn and urge you to move forward with reinstating the Proposed Rule to Protect Life in Title X.

CC: Secretary Kennedy