Topline
The Trump administration is reportedly expected to freeze about $20 million in funding for Planned Parenthood, among other organizations that receive family planning grants, as it reviews whether they’re in compliance with President Donald Trump’s directive for all federal contractors to root out all diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.
The Planned Parenthood Reproductive Health Services Center in St. Louis, Missouri, May 30, 2019. … More (Photo by SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images)
Key Facts
About $120 million in grant funding for family planning to support pregnancy testing, access to birth control, infertility services and treatment of sexually transmitted infections, is expected to be put on hold as soon as this week, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing unnamed resources.
The funding freeze would impact about $20 million for Planned Parenthood clinics in about 12 states, according to the Journal, which reported the pause would be implemented so the Health and Human Services department can review whether the grant recipients are using the money for diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.
An unnamed HHS spokesperson told the Journal it was reviewing grant contracts to ensure recipients adhered to Trump’s executive orders.
Tangent
Conservatives have long called for the federal government to “defund Planned Parenthood,” because it offers abortions. During the first Trump administration, Planned Parenthood withdrew from the Title X family planning program through which the grant money that will reportedly be frozen is distributed after Trump issued a rule prohibiting participants from making abortion provider referrals. The Biden administration reversed the rule.
Key Background
President Donald Trump signed an executive order on his first day in office ordering all federal agencies to ensure grant recipients do not promote or participate in diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. The directive is part of a broader push by the Trump administration to eliminate all traces of DEI in the federal government. Trump ordered all federal government employees with DEI-centric roles to be put on leave or fired in January, and agencies have begun to wipe all mentions of DEI from public interfaces.
What We Don’t Know
How the reported forthcoming order could conflict with court orders lifting a pause on most federal funding the Office of Management and Budget implemented earlier this year as part of Trump’s efforts to slash the size of the federal government and identify waste and fraud. Judges in at least two lawsuits have blocked the Trump administration from implementing the freeze, with both suggesting it might be unconstitutional.
Further Reading
Trump Administration Rescinds Grant Freeze Memo—Here’s Everything We Know (Forbes)
Trump’s Diversity Orders Rattle CEOs: What Companies Should Know About New DEI Rules (Forbes)
