SEATTLE — The Trump administration is moving to defund Planned Parenthood, which could affect family planning services for upward of 80,000 people in Washington state.
“Our deep-seated belief is that all life is precious from conception all the way to natural death and women deserve the very best of health care,” said Sarah Davenport-Smith of Human Life Washington.
Under a decades-old federal law, Planned Parenthood cannot use federal money to pay for abortions.
In Washington state it gets $3 million in Title X federal money to provide family planning. The new Trump rule would take away money from any organization that also provides abortions.
Courtney Normand is the Washington state director of Planned Parenthood Votes. “We're talking about people who are struggling to make ends meet, who need birth control, who need (sexually transmitted infection) screenings and who need cancer screenings. And it’s targeting these folks just on an ideology, and it’s really disruptive to our health care system.”
Gov. Jay Inslee tweeted his support of Planned Parenthood when news of the rule broke this morning. He noted that services to 80,000 people are at risk, calling the new rule “unacceptable and wrong.”
“We will explore all options to protect women in our state, including access to the courts and litigation. I think in the next few days, you'll hear more from the attorney general and myself in that regard,” the governor said in an interview from Washington D.C.
More news from KIRO 7