Public Funding of Abortion Counseling  -- Title X

Current Status                                                                                    A substantial portion of family planning programs in Michigan is funded through combined federal-state Title X dollars. These programs must provide the Clinton mandated "options counseling," which includes abortion referrals.  Other pregnancy prevention programs, however, are funded entirely by state dollars. These programs are precluded from counseling for abortions based on language of Public Act 293 of 1994, and as consistent with the policy of the Engler administration which excludes abortion as a method of family planning. (See history below for more on Michigan developments.)

Previous federal regulations prohibiting abortion referrals by family planning clinics which receive Title X (ten) grant funds, commonly known as the "gag rule," were rescinded by President Clinton on January 22, 1993. Clinics, which receive the funds to provide pre-pregnancy family planning services, may now freely counsel and refer pregnant women for abortions. Thus, a program designed to help reduce unintended pregnancies, and thereby reduce abortions, is now using tax dollars to refer for and promote abortion as a method of birth control.

History                                                                                             
Title X was passed into law by Congress in 1970. The clear and express purpose of Title X was to provide pre-pregnancy services. The authorizing language of the original Title X law includes the following language of section 1008: "None of the funds appropriated under this title shall be used in programs where abortion is a method of family planning."

Michigan congressman John Dingell was the author of section 1008 in 1970. During discussion of Title X on the House floor, Rep. Dingell made the following statements: "With the 'prohibition of abortion' amendment - Title X, section 1008 - the committee members clearly intend that abortion is not to be encouraged or promoted in any way through this legislation. Programs which include abortion as a method of family planning are not eligible for funds allocated through this act."

"If there is any direct relationship between family planning and abortion, it would be this, that properly operating family planning programs should reduce the incidence of abortion." Congressional Record 37375 (1970)

Based on reports from the General Accounting Office that Section 1008 was not being complied with, the Reagan Administration in 1988 proposed changes in the rules governing Title X grants. These rules clarified the separation of activities that related to pre- and post-conception services. The rules prohibited Title X programs from discussing abortion with clients found to be pregnant, unless a physical condition existed which threatened the client's life or health. Physicians were always free to discuss abortion as a necessary response to medically complicated pregnancy.

The ACLU, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and others challenged the constitutionality of the rules. Several cases were brought in different federal courts, leading eventually to the rules being suspended, and a case being heard by the U.S. Supreme Court. On May 23, 1991 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Rust v. Sullivan that the Title X regulations were constitutional. Proponents of tax-funded abortion counseling claim that the restrictions on abortion referrals under Title X are a restriction of clinic employees' freedom of speech. The Court rejected this argument, noting that abortion proponents may advocate abortion in any context outside of a Title X program. None of the agencies receiving Title X funds have a constitutional right to those funds. Abortion advocates have a choice as to whether they will operate with private funds to promote abortion as birth control, or operate with public funds and commit to pregnancy prevention methods.

In response to that decision, on June 3, 1991, Rep. Tim Walberg offered an amendment to the public health department appropriations bill requiring that Michigan family planning grants operate under the same regulations. In a June 4, 1991 letter, Public Health Director, Vernice Davis Anthony indicated that the department would implement the Title X counseling limits on all agencies receiving family planning funds through the state. This was somewhat necessary since both federal Title X funds and state general funds were combined to provide grants. Rep. Walberg withdrew his amendment based on assurances in the letter.