President Trump signed a bill Thursday that allows states to refuse to give abortion providers such as Planned Parenthood any federal money, CNN reports. The bill is a reversal of a regulation put in place by former President Barack Obama. "The previous Department of Health and Human Services regulation, which took effect two days before Mr. Trump's inauguration, said that states and localities could not withhold money from a provider for any reason other than an inability to provide family planning services," The New York Times writes.
Vice President Mike Pence cast the tie breaking vote in the Senate in late March after two Republicans refused to support the measure. House Speaker Paul Ryan called the bill a "major pro-life victory" and other conservatives have cheered it on as a victory for states' rights.
Heidi Williamson, an analyst at the Women's Health and Rights Program and the Center for American Progress, slammed the bill, saying: "Trump’s actions are creating very real and damaging consequences for millions of women and their families, inflicting direct harm on already vulnerable communities." Federal law already prohibits using government money to fund abortions. Planned Parenthood says just 3 percent of the services it offers involve providing abortions.
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