Pro-life Catholic women support Trump’s efforts to defund Planned Parenthood

Catholic women in the pro-life movement are applauding the Trump administration’s proposed changes to the Title X family planning program. They argue the changes would protect women and give them safer options for family planning. The new regulations would eliminate the requirement that doctors provide abortion and birth control referrals at patients’ request, leaving the decision to make referrals or not up to individual doctors and would block the availability of federal funds to family planning providers like Planned Parenthood that also offer abortion services, a longtime goal of the pro-life movement.

“I believe Planned Parenthood does a lot more harm than good,” said Alisha Fox, a registered dietitian nutritionist and health and wellness coach at a Catholic fertility center in Chicago. “I believe there are adequate, alternative options for true women’s health care out there, and Planned Parenthood is not needed.”

According to Planned Parenthood’s 2016-17 annual report, 321,384 abortions were performed by Planned Parenthood affiliates in 2016. The organization also provides testing for sexually transmitted infections, pregnancy tests and cancer screenings. About 37 percent of the Planned Parenthood’s revenue came from government support, and the majority of the rest came from private donations and “non-government health services.”

Members of the pro-life movement say that anti-abortion laws do not take away women’s rights but instead empower women.

Members of the pro-life movement say that the administration’s proposed changes to Title X do not take away women’s rights but instead empower women. Kateri Remmes, a student at the University of Dallas and member of Students for Life of America, a pro-life college group, organizes rallies and events to educate others about the efforts of the pro-life movement.

“People say: ‘What do [pro-life groups] do for women after they have their baby? You just care about saving the baby, and then you leave the mom alone.’

“That’s so not true,” said Ms. Remmes, 20. “We have ‘pregnant on campus’ initiatives with S.F.L.A. so that women don’t get kicked off campuses or lose scholarships because they’re pregnant. There’s so much support and love for women in our group, but people don’t believe that.”

The Trump administration’s proposed Title X changes would also provide funds to faith-based crisis pregnancy centers. Ms. Remmes said that many of these clinics help women buy cars, find housing and jobs, offer ultrasounds and conduct S.T.D. tests and pregnancy tests to support women during pregnancy and after giving birth.

Planned Parenthood calls the proposed changes to referral regulations a “gag rule” because it would block women from obtaining information about abortions. In a press release, Planned Parenthood said the rule “would keep women from having full information about all of their options, and from getting the best health care possible” and that “everyone, regardless of their race, of their income, or where they live, deserves the best medical care and information available. Under this rule, they won’t get it.”

Kateri Remmes said the pro-life movement wants to empower women to follow their dreams even if they have an unplanned pregnancy.

Planned Parenthood says the changes will directly affect people from marginalized communities.

“Because of systemic inequities, many patients who rely on Title X for their health care needs are people of color, LGBTQ people, and people in rural areas, all of whom already face significant barriers to accessing health care,” Planned Parenthood said in its press release. “After being blocked from these health centers, including Planned Parenthood, many patients would have nowhere else to go for care.”

The American Medical Association is also pushing back on the proposed changes in their public comments. In July, the A.M.A. said that fertility awareness contraception methods, commonly known as natural family planning, are unreliable and not evidence-based.

But some pro-life fertility organizations believe N.F.P. deserves more government-funded research.

“There is a lack of government funding for N.F.P. research, and N.F.P. lacks the amount of support that Planned Parenthood has,” said Ms. Fox. “There hasn’t been the opportunity to have the funds to do those studies. I agree that there needs to be more research, but I disagree that it’s not effective.”

Ms. Remmes said the pro-life movement wants to encourage women to follow their dreams even if they have an unplanned pregnancy. “We want women to be successful as mothers and not feel like they can’t still pursue their dreams and aspirations,” she said. “We want them to feel safe. We’re empowering women by saying, ‘As a mother, you can still do this.’”

Matt Lamb, the director of communications at S.F.L.A., confirmed the organization’s support for Title X. “Students for Life of America supports the ‘Protect Life Rule’ proposed by President Trump,” he said in an email. “We believe that taxpayer dollars should not go to organizations that commit abortions. Family planning money should be used to promote life-affirming options, which is the opposite of what Planned Parenthood does every day when it commits abortion.”

PBS reports that the Department of Health and Human Services is currently sorting through public comments on the proposed Title X changes and has yet to provide a timeline on when they could take effect.