Dems urge Trump to protect Planned Parenthood

A group of 34 Senate Democrats is calling on President-elect Donald Trump not to scrap an Obama administration regulation protecting Planned Parenthood. 

The Democrats, led by Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), wrote to Trump on Thursday calling on him to implement the rule finalized by the Obama administration last week.

The regulation would protect Planned Parenthood by preventing states from cutting organizations out of federal family planning grants unless the groups are unable to properly provide the necessary services.

{mosads}The Democrats warn that congressional Republicans want to cut off federal funding for Planned Parenthood. Anti-abortion groups are pushing for Planned Parenthood to be defunded as part of the ObamaCare repeal bill that Congress intends to pass early next year. 

“Quality of care, not politics, should drive a health care provider’s eligibility for federal funding,” the Democrats wrote. “We urge you to stand with women and against Congressional Republicans by committing to implement a recently finalized rule stopping extreme Republicans from limiting communities’ health care options for purely ideological reasons.”

The senators said that organizations receiving the family planning grants, known as Title X, provided healthcare services including pap tests, breast exams and HIV testing to 4.1 million low-income people last year. 

The senators pointed to Trump’s statement earlier this year that Planned Parenthood “has done very good work for millions of women.”

Trump also said, though, that “we’re not going to fund [it] as long as you have the abortion going on at Planned Parenthood.”