Planned Parenthood considers litigation on Trump’s proposed changes to family planning program

Planned Parenthood and a national group representing family planning clinics say they will consider suing the Trump administration if it moves forward with a proposal that would reshape a federal grant program.

“We will absolutely consider all of our options and that does include litigation,” said Dr. Gillian Dean, senior director of medical services at Planned Parenthood Federation of America.

The administration this week announced proposed regulations that would ban family planning clinics that receive federal Title X funding from referring patients for abortions or sharing locations or finances with abortion providers.

The proposal is targeted at Planned Parenthood, which funds family planning services for low-income women and men. The organization serves more than 40 percent of patients who receive services through the Title X program

The National Family Planning and Reproductive Health Association, a membership organization of Title X family planning clinics, also said it would consider litigation. 

“We will seriously contemplate legal action as we’ve already had to do, and will do so in this case as well,” said Clare Coleman, president and CEO of the group. 

“Our grantees are incredibly committed to the program and want to protect the integrity of the program.”

The proposal has not yet been published in the Federal Register and is still being reviewed by the White House Office of Management and Budget, which means the administration could still make changes to the proposal. 

Both groups likely won’t make decisions about litigation until the rule is finalized, which could take months. But the proposed regulations closely mirror those issued under the Reagan administration in the 1980s.

While the Supreme Court upheld those regulations, the rules’ opponents say they still have legal standing to sue because the Trump proposal is inherently different and because it comes at a different time.

“This is not the same proposal as the Reagan administration made, and not the same set of issues of same jurisprudence from 35 years ago,” Coleman said.