The Trump administration has announced it is awarding a $1.7 million family planning grant to a chain of pro-life crisis pregnancy clinics in California. At the same time, the administration is cutting government funding to some Planned Parenthood clinics.
The news website The Hill reports the Obria Group will receive the grant and signals the administration’s desire to shift family planning funds toward faith-based groups that oppose abortion and away from groups like Planned Parenthood that perform or encourage abortion.
“Many women want the opportunity to visit a professional, comprehensive health care facility — not an abortion clinic — for their health care needs; this grant will give them that choice,” Kathleen Eaton Bravo, founder, and CEO of The Obria Group, said in a statement.
Obria will oversee the work of seven clinic partners, including three of its affiliates that don’t provide contraceptives or perform abortions, in four California counties, the group said in the statement.
The group offers pregnancy testing and counseling, prenatal care, HIV/AIDS testing, ultrasounds, cancer testing, well-woman care, pap smears, STD testing and treatment, adoption referral and post-abortion support, according to a press release.
An HHS spokesperson said the Obria group will receive $1.7 million in 2019 and, along with other Title X providers, will receive funding through 2022 based on the availability of funds, grant compliance, and the project’s progress, according to The Hill.
Meanwhile, Planned Parenthood said in a statement Friday that the four affiliates that were “stripped of funding” served Hawaii, North Carolina, Ohio, Wisconsin, and Virginia.
Last month the Trump administration finalized a rule directing Title X family planning funds away from groups like Planned Parenthood, which is America’s biggest abortion provider.
Under the new rule, health clinics must be “physically and financially” separate from abortion providers in order to receive Title X family planning grants.
