The Atlantic

The Biggest Consequence of Trump’s New Abortion Rule Won’t Be for Abortion

New restrictions on the Title X program may affect poor women’s access to other kinds of health care.
Source: Jacquelyn Martin / AP

In late February, the Trump administration dropped a new rule that has alarmed doctors’ groups and brought conservatives closer to achieving their long quest to defund Planned Parenthood.

Clinics that receive funds from the federal family-planning grant program Title X will no longer be able to perform abortions in the same space where they see other patients. Abortion and other health-care services will be required to be physically and financially separate entities. Title X participants will also no longer be able to refer patients to abortion providers, though they can mention abortion to their patients.

About 20 percent of Title X providers would potentially have to renovate their clinics to meet the new guidelines, the Department of Health and Human Services. It will likely cost each of these providers $20,000 to $40,000 to

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