Trump administration reverses Obama-era policy that prevented states from denying Medicaid funds to Planned Parenthood

The Trump administration has rescinded an Obama-era policy that prevented state governments from withholding Medicaid funds from Planned Parenthood.

In a press release on Friday, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced that it has released a new guidance revoking an earlier policy that specifically restricted the states' ability to "take certain actions against family-planning providers that offer abortion services."

In 2016, the HHS under Obama issued a warning after 24 states withheld Medicaid funding to Planned Parenthood following an undercover investigation that purported to expose the abortion organization's involvement in the trafficking of aborted babies' body parts.

Charmaine Yoest, assistant HSS secretary for public affairs, stated that reversing the policy "frees up states to once again decide for themselves what reasonable standards they use to protect Medicaid programs and their beneficiaries."

"This is part of the Trump administration's effort to roll back regulations the Obama administration put out to radically favor abortion," she added.

The Obama administration had argued that providers may only be barred from a state's Medicaid program if they cannot perform covered services or if they cannot bill for those services. It also contended that denying funds to abortion facilities would result in undesired births, and contended that such locations are important because they provide contraceptives.

Rescinding the policy would not automatically allow states to withhold funds from Planned Parenthood, but the move has been seen as a signal that the Trump administration supports such efforts.

The decision has been hailed by some religious freedom advocacy groups, such as the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF).

"No American taxpayer should be forced by unelected Washington bureaucrats to pay for abortions. Medicaid dollars should go to local community health centers serving women — not the scandal-ridden billion-dollar abortion industry," ADF Legal Counsel Elissa Graves said in a statement, according to The Christian Post.

Planned Parenthood decried the move saying it would effectively encourage states to block the abortion giant from state Medicaid programs.

"The law is clear: it is illegal to bar women from seeking care at Planned Parenthood. Long-standing protections within Medicaid safeguard every person's right to access care at their qualified provider of choice," Dawn Laguens, executive vice president for Planned Parenthood Action Fund, said in a statement.

During President Donald Trump's first year in office, his Trump administration has taken several actions supporting his pro-life stance.

In April, the president approved a legislation that revoked an Obama-era policy that effectively prevented state and local governments from withholding federal funding for organizations that provide abortions.

On Thursday, the HHS announced the creation of a new branch, called the Conscience and Religious Freedom Division, aimed at protecting the conscience rights of medical professionals who may hold moral or religious objections to certain procedures, such as abortions or gender reassignment surgery.