Pritzker rebuffs Trump's Title X gag rule
Guv follows Planned Parenthood in rejecting anti-abortion order, allots $2.4M to make up lost federal grants
Gov. Pritzker at the signing ceremony for the Reproductive Health Act last month in Chicago. (One Illinois/Ted Cox)
By Ted Cox
The governor followed Planned Parenthood Thursday in rejecting a Trump administration executive order that attempts to undermine reproductive health care.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker said state agencies would join Planned Parenthood in dropping out of the federal Title X program on reproductive health care rather than obey President Trump’s executive order forbidding even the discussion of abortion as part of the program.
The Governor’s Office put out a news release saying, “The gag rule holds hostage federal funding for contraception for low-income women unless providers refuse to refer or provide abortion services along with other reproductive health care.”
The American Medical Association and the American Civil Liberties Union have prominently rejected what critics call a “gag rule” that prevents doctors from discussing the full range of treatment with patients. Planned Parenthood of Illinois spokeswoman Julie Lynn said earlier this week that the gag rule is “unethical” and “forces doctors to lie to their patients” in stating that the organization would drop out of Title X rather than comply with Trump’s executive order.
“President Trump’s gag rule undermines women’s health care and threatens the providers that millions of women and girls rely on, and we will not let that stand in the state of Illinois,” Pritzker said in a statement. “Under my administration, Illinois will always stand with women and protect their fundamental right to choose. While I’m committed to bringing as many federal dollars to the state as possible, I refuse to sacrifice our values and allow vital care to lapse. In this state, we trust women to make their own health-care decisions and will guarantee access to reproductive health care for all of our residents.”
According to the Governor’s Office, “The State of Illinois will forgo Title X funding from the federal government while the gag rule remains in effect,” and the Illinois Department of Public Health will allot $2.4 million to 28 state treatment centers to make up for the lost federal funds.
“The relationship between a patient and their doctor is based on trust and honesty. The gag rule violates that trust and puts patients’ health at risk.”
Jennifer Welch, president of Planned Parenthood of Illinois (One Illinois/Ted Cox)
Jennifer Welch, president of Planned Parenthood of Illinois, welcomed the governor’s action. “The relationship between a patient and their doctor is based on trust and honesty,” she said. “The gag rule violates that trust and puts patients’ health at risk. Gov. Pritzker is, once again, standing up to the Trump-Pence administration because access to health care such as cancer screenings, birth control, (sexually transmitted infection) testing and treatment, and other family-planning services should be available to anyone who needs them regardless of their ability to pay.”
Planned Parenthood has 18 health centers across the state, 17 percent of the state total under Title X, and has served more than 50,000 Illinois patients a year under the program, 42 percent of the state total.
Title X dates back almost 50 years to the Nixon administration. It provides funding for a range of reproductive health care, including HIV prevention and testing, breast and cervical cancer screening and treatment, and family planning for low-income and uninsured citizens nationwide.
Trump first proposed the gag rule in a speech to an anti-abortion group just over a year ago, and it went into effect this week after a court case failed to block his executive order.