As Donald Trump calls for abortion policy to be left to the individual states, his running mate, Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance, said Saturday that “on the question of defunding Planned Parenthood” the views of the former president remain “consistent.”
Through an update to the federal family planning program, known as Title X, the Trump administration previously blocked funding from organizations that provide abortion referrals, a move condemned by Planned Parenthood and welcomed by anti-abortion advocates at the time.
“For decades, American taxpayers have been wrongfully forced to subsidize the abortion industry through Title X federal funding. So today, we have kept another promise,” Trump told the anti-abortion Susan B. Anthony group in 2018. “My administration has proposed a new rule to prohibit Title X funding from going to any clinic that performs abortions.”
Marjorie Dannenfelser called it “a major victory which will energize the grass roots as we head into the critical midterm elections.”
“As I said throughout the campaign, I am pro-life and I am deeply committed to investing in women’s health and plan to significantly increase federal funding in support of non-abortion services such as cancer screenings,” Trump told the New York Times. “Polling shows the majority of Americans oppose public funding for abortion, even those who identify as pro-choice. There is an opportunity for organizations to continue the important work they do in support of women’s health, while not providing abortion services.”
Planned Parenthood protested that federal funds were already barred by law from funding abortions. They still withdrew from the program the following year when the rule change went into effect.
“The Trump administration has forced Planned Parenthood grantees out of Title X,” Alexis McGill Johnson, president of that organization, said at the time. “The impact of the Trump administration’s gag rule will reverberate across the country.”
The Biden administration subsequently rolled back the move. According to Planned Parenthood’s most recent annual report, the organization provided 392,715 “abortion services” between 2022 and 2023.
Asked if a second Trump administration would defund the organization, previously a central plank in the GOP policy platform, Vance told RealClearPolitics, “On the question of defunding Planned Parenthood, look, I mean, our view is we don’t think that taxpayers should fund late term abortions. That has been a consistent view of the Trump campaign the first time around. It will remain a consistent view.”
“JD Vance made it clear tonight – a Trump-Vance administration will defund Planned Parenthood and deny millions of women basic health care, including birth control, cancer screenings and even prenatal care – just like he did when he was president,” Harris campaign spokeswoman Lauren Hitt replied in a statement.
“A second Trump term is too big a risk for American women and their families. The only way to stop an unchecked Trump and his MAGA allies from ripping away freedoms from American women is to elect Vice President Harris, who will defend women’s access to health care and reproductive freedom,” she continued.
Planned Parenthood Action Fund, the political arm of the organization, endorsed Kamala Harris in July.
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