Twenty-one states and the District of Columbia are suing the Trump administration over new rules that would cut federal funding from Planned Parenthood and other clinics that provide or discuss abortions.
California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, a Democrat, announced his decision on Monday to sue separately in a press conference and a coalition of 19 other states and the District of Columbia prepared to file their own suit Tuesday.
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 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.”
Clinics will either have to comply with the rules or forgo federal funding. The policy takes 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.
[Related: Planned Parenthood reports performing more abortions, 332,757, in latest year]
The lawsuits ask for an injunction of the rules, which are otherwise set to take effect in 60 days. Clinics would have a year to comply with the building requirements.
California filed its lawsuit in the U.S. District Court in San Francisco and coalition will file in the U.S. District Court in Eugene, Ore. Organizations such as the Center for Reproductive Rights and Planned Parenthood have also said they are considering lawsuits.
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 the Trump administration has set 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 former 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.
