Washington state is set to sue the Trump administration over new rules that will cause healthcare clinics providing abortions and receiving federal family planning grants to close and that will block medical providers from telling patients where they can get an abortion.
Washington state will sue the Trump administration in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Washington as soon as the rule is published, which could be as early as Monday. Washington will also file for a preliminary injunction that would block the rule from going into effect, which would otherwise occur 60 days after it is posted.
“I don’t file lawsuits unless I’m certain we’re going to prevail,” Washington state Attorney General Bob Ferguson said in a press conference Monday.
“We’ll be prepared to go before the United States Supreme Court if that’s necessary,” he said.
Clare Coleman, president and CEO of the National Family Planning and Reproductive Health Association, also was present at the press conference, which took place in Seattle, to announce that the organization would be filing its own lawsuit when the rule is published. The cases are likely to be merged together as they make their way through the courts. Other states, including California, are expected to sue as well, but Ferguson declined to speak ahead of formal announcements from other attorneys general.
The rule in dispute applies to a $286 million-a-year grant, known as Title X, that pays for birth control, testing of sexually transmitted diseases, and cancer screenings for 4 million low-income people.
The Trump administration’s change to the rule, announced Friday, requires the “physical and financial” separation of family planning services and abortion. It would also block providers from referring for abortions for the purpose of family planning or promoting the practice if they are receiving Title X grants. Critics have often referred to it as a “gag rule.”
“This case is about placing politicians in the room when doctors and patients are discussing healthcare options,” Ferguson said. “That is unacceptable and it is unlawful.”
Clinics will either have to comply with the rules or forgo federal funding. The policy takes direct aim at Planned Parenthood, which receives between $50 million and $60 million a year in Title X grants, and attempts to distribute the federal dollars to community health centers instead.
Federal funds are not permitted to pay for abortions except in the cases of rape, incest, or if a woman’s pregnancy threatens her life. Abortion foes, however, have long fought for rules along the lines of the one advanced Friday because they say allocating federal funds toward clinics such as Planned Parenthood frees up additional funds for the clinics to provide abortions.
The Trump administration rule is similar to a 1988 policy instituted by President Ronald Reagan, which required family planning services to have a “physical separation” and “separate personnel” from abortion providers.
Planned Parenthood and other groups challenged the Reagan-era rule in court. The Supreme Court allowed the policy to move forward, but it was never carried out completely. Then-President Bill Clinton rolled back the rules in 1994.
