Cranford, NJ—Today, American Atheists denounced the Trump administration’s “Domestic Gag Rule” as unconstitutional and dangerous. Not only does the rule ban providers funded by Title X from providing abortions, it also prevents them from even talking about abortion or referring patients to other doctors for abortion care. This rule essentially redirects money from full-service health care providers to religious organizations.
“The Trump Administration’s Domestic Gag Rule is astonishingly coercive and harmful to patients’ health,” said Alison Gill, Vice President for Legal and Policy. “It upends 50 years of medical ethics and federal quality standard guidelines in order to fund religious providers who want to make evidence-based family planning a thing of the past.”
“The rule destroys the patient-provider relationship by coercing medical professionals into withholding medically accurate information and services if they don’t want to lose their Title X funding,” Gill said. “With this new policy, the Trump Administration is putting religious dogma above patients’ needs and curtailing families’ freedom to make crucial decisions.”
“By all indications, this Administration cares more about throwing red meat to its Christian extremist base than protecting vulnerable women,” said American Atheists president Nick Fish. “Providing families with medically accurate health care must come before petty politics.”
