Obama finalizes rule that prevents states from defunding Planned Parenthood

Outgoing U.S. President Barack Obama has finalized a rule on Wednesday that would prevent states from blocking federal funds going to Planned Parenthood.

The rule, which was proposed three months ago, will require states and local governments to distribute federal funds for family planning services, regardless of whether the health care facility that provides such services also perform abortions, The New York Times reported.

The regulation was proposed in September after several Republican-dominated states blocked Planned Parenthood clinics from receiving public money. The funds included money allocated for the federal family planning program known as Title X as well as Medicaid reimbursements for low-income patients.

Under federal law, governments are not allowed to fund abortion in cases of rape, incest, or when a woman's life is at risk. But several politicians have attempted to ban any public payments to abortion providers even for services that are unrelated to the termination of pregnancies.

According to the new rule, states will not be allowed to withhold money from potential recipients for reasons unrelated to their capability to provide family-planning services.

The finalized rule was posted on the website of the Federal Register, the government's official journal, on Wednesday. It will not take effect until Jan. 18, 2017, 30-days after it is published in the paper version of the journal.

Tennessee Rep. Diana Black has vowed to work with other lawmakers to repeal the new rule next year.

"Come next year, our pro-life majorities in Congress will be positioned to work with President-Elect Trump and pro-life nominee for Secretary of Health and Human Services, Dr. Tom Price, to not only roll back this latest overreach but also to enact new legal protections for these most vulnerable members of our society," she told Life News.

"The Obama Administration will not have the last word. With this new year comes renewed opportunity to fight for the dignity of every unborn child, the wellbeing of every struggling mother, and the conscience rights of every American taxpayer," she continued.

Steven H. Aden, senior counsel of the Alliance Defending Freedom, urged President-elect Donald Trump to rescind the rule "immediately after taking office."

According to the Department of Health and Human Services, it would require a new rule-making process or a joint resolution of disapproval by the House and Senate, with concurrence by the new president, in order to repeal the rule.