N.Y. gives up hospital money rather than save babies

(Image courtesy Pixabay)

New York City officials say they will refuse to participate in the federal Title X funding program for hospitals because a Trump administration rule means they would have to save babies.

The city announced recently it will refuse $1.3 million in federal funding for public hospitals because its officials want staff members to promote abortion.

"This tantrum by Mayor de Blasio and other New York City hospital bureaucrats to forgo federal funds is driven by their absence of concern for human lives," said Mat Staver, founder of Liberty Counsel, which regularly defends the unborn in court.

"There are people that truly need medical attention in those hospitals. However, it is ironic that doctors and nurses in the public hospital system 'took an oath to protect and serve patients' but city and state officials will do whatever necessary to murder unborn children and harm women. This is just another example that New York wants to become the world sanctuary for abortions," he said.

WND reported last month a three-judge panel of the famously left-leaning 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ordered several injunctions lifted so the Trump administration's Protect Life Rule, which directs Title X government funding to family health centers that don't do abortions, can take effect.

The rule prevents federal subsidies from going to clinics that provide abortion or refer for abortion. A big loser is Planned Parenthood clinics, unless they establish facilities separate from their abortion sites.

The judges granted the Trump administration's request to lift state and nationwide blocks on the agency rule, which immediately became the target of lawsuits after it was finalized this year.

The judges, all appointed by previous Republican presidents, concluded the administration likely will win its case when it comes to trial. They reasoned that the U.S. Supreme Court held up similar Reagan-era rules nearly 30 years ago.

Mayor Bill de Blasio, Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services Dr. Herminia Palacio and the president of NYC Health + Hospitals, Mitchell Katz, have announced they will refuse Title X funding.

The Trump rule stops an estimated $60 million in tax money from flowing to abortion industry giant Planned Parenthood.

De Blasio claims it's a "gag rule."

"The doctors and nurses at the heart of New York City's public hospital system took an oath to protect and serve patients, and we will do whatever’s necessary to ensure they are able to provide the best medical treatment. Our decision to reject Title X funds sends a clear message – we will not stand by while the Trump administration tries to censor our providers and prevent them from giving patients information about abortions," de Blasio said.

His state most recently adopted a Reproductive Health Act that, according to Liberty Counsel, "authorizes the murder of unborn babies up to the point of birth for any reason and revokes medical care for babies who are born alive after a failed abortion."

"This new law also seeks to deny any recognition or protection for human beings before birth under any circumstances."

Susan B. Anthony List President Marjorie Dannenfelser said, when the injunctions were lifted, "A strong majority of Americans have consistently voiced their opposition to taxpayer funding of abortion – it is even unpopular among Democrats and self-described pro-choice Americans."

She said: "The Protect Life Rule simply draws a bright line between abortion and family planning, stopping abortion businesses like Planned Parenthood from treating Title X as their private slush fund without reducing funding by a dime. Similar regulations were upheld by the Supreme Court nearly three decades ago. We are encouraged by this news and confident the Trump administration will prevail."

The ruling comes even as pro-abortion House Democrats are promoting a bill to protect tax funding for their abortion industry supporters.

A Marist poll in January found that, by double-digits, a majority of Americans oppose any taxpayer funding of abortion.

The SBA List said that under the Protect Life Rule, abortion centers cannot serve as taxpayer-funded family planning centers.

"In addition, Title X locations cannot refer for abortion. The Protect Life Rule does not prohibit Title X providers from providing neutral, nondirective counseling about abortion and does not prevent anyone from obtaining Title X services. It does not reduce family planning funding by a dime. Instead, it directs tax dollars to Title X centers that do not promote or perform abortions, such as the growing number of community and rural health centers that far outnumber Planned Parenthood facilities."

Politico reported pro-abortion federal judges in Oregon and Washington state issued nationwide injunctions against the rule, and a judge in California imposed a statewide injunction.