Trump’s Anti-Abortion War Is Wiping Out Independent Providers

Without Title X funding, some of the nation’s most vulnerable communities may risk losing health care

Pro-choice activists, politicians, and others associated with Planned Parenthood gather for a news conference and demonstration at City Hall against the Trump administration’s Title X rule change. Photo: Spencer Platt/Getty Images

President Donald Trump’s longstanding efforts to restrict access to abortion care paid off Monday, when Planned Parenthood announced it was withdrawing from Title X, the federal grant program that provides low-income patients with family-planning services and other types of reproductive health care. The administration’s regulations, known by opponents as the “domestic gag rule,” block health providers from discussing abortion care if they receive federal funding via Title X — and Planned Parenthood refused to comply.

The health organization has received about $60 million annually through the program, which has helped it provide care to 1.5 million patients, or about 40% of Title X beneficiaries. Planned Parenthood will continue its operations, even without the Title X funding.

But for independent health providers, the loss of Title X funds jeopardizes their ability to provide care to some of the nation’s most vulnerable communities.

The Equality Health Center, New Hampshire’s oldest abortion provider, serves nearly 3,000 patients per year, 60% of whom rely on Title X. Over the past 45 years, the…