CHICAGO (Reuters) – Illinois will defy enforcement of the Trump administration’s rule barring taxpayer-backed family planning clinics from making abortion referrals, the governor said on Thursday, announcing the state plans to step in to fund those clinics.
Governor J.B. Pritzker’s announcement came a month after a federal appeals court cleared the way for the administration to cut off Title X subsidies of reproductive healthcare and family planning costs for low-income women at clinics that refer patients to abortion providers.
Pritzker, a Democrat, said the state would forgo all Title X funding from the federal government while the Republican administration continues to impose its restriction – decried by critics as a “gag rule” designed to silence doctor-patient communications about abortion options.
In the meantime, Pritzer said, the Illinois Department of Public Health will provide funding to the state’s 28 Title X recipients to make up for the estimated $2.4 million…
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