In a conference call with reporters on Monday, Planned Parenthood’s new leader, Alexis McGill Johnson, announced all the health care clinic’s affiliates would be sending letters to the Department of Health and Human Services Monday, formally announcing their resignation from Title X. She warned that without Planned Parenthood, low-income women in rural areas would struggle to find affordable birth control options.
“For too many people struggling to make ends meet, it may be that they may go without care,” Johnson said on the call.
Planned Parenthood leadership declined to answer exactly how much revenue the organization would lose due to the exit. “Our position is that this isn’t about Planned Parenthood’s budget, it’s about our patients,” Johnson said.
Title X was created in 1970 to provide affordable reproductive care to women who otherwise couldn’t afford it. Last year, more than four million people relied on Title X for health care services, 41% of whom received services at Planned Parenthood, according to the health clinic.
Title X funds have never been authorized to pay for abortions. Instead, the money is used for wellness exams, STD and HIV screenings, birth control and contraceptive education, according to Planned Parenthood. Anti-abortion rights advocates argue that any money given to Planned Parenthood — even if it’s not used for abortions — frees up funding to be used for the procedure.
But in February, a 312-page filing from the Department of Health and Human Services proposed what abortion rights advocates have referred to as a “gag rule.” Under the proposal, the agency wrote that “none of the funds appropriated for Title X may be used in programs where abortion is a method of family planning.” The changes impact not just Planned Parenthood, but any clinic that supports, performs or even refers patients for abortion services.
Under the new rule, recipients of Title X funds can reference abortion as an option to pregnant women, but they are not allowed to refer them to an abortion provider.
Mia Heck, a senior adviser at the Department of Health and Human Services, said in a statement emailed to CBS News on Monday afternoon that Title X recipients shouldn’t have accepted the funds if the organizations were uncomfortable with the so-called “gag rule.”
“Some grantees are now blaming the government for their own actions - having chosen to accept the grant while failing to comply with the regulations that accompany it - and they are abandoning their obligations to serve their patients under the program,” Heck said.
Hong Kong Legislative Council Member Lam Cheuk Ting (林卓廷) on Tuesday (Aug. 20) revealed video evidence of two Hong Kong police officers abusing an arrested elderly man in North District Hospital.
According to Lam, a male Hong Konger of at least 60 years of age was tortured by two uniformed police officers in a separate ward of North District Hospital on June 25. The citizen was arrested for “assault on police” after he had become drunk and engaged in a quarrel.
The video clip shows the two police officers repeatedly slapping the man, pressing on his eyes, bending his wrist and fingers, etc. One officer even removed the citizen’s trousers and underwear, prodding his groin with a baton.
Hong Kong police abusing arrested citizen (Source: Lam Cheuk Ting Facebook)
During the conference, a family member of the abused citizen claimed the man was so frightened that he lost control of his bladder. The police then removed the wet clothes and covered his face with them, telling him to “drink your own piss.”
Humiliated, the abused citizen apparently tried to commit suicide by bashing his head against the gurney but he was stopped by the police. Council Member Lam condemned the officers for having committed “torture,” going on to say he worried that this was not an isolated case.
Last week, Chan Ho-tin (陳浩天), convener of the Hong Kong National Party, accused the police of not only refusing to allow two arrested protesters to meet with lawyers or family members but also denying them with drinking water for more than five hours. Chan added that the police eventually handed them some water, but it had a foul, salty taste and they suspected it came from a toilet.
The mayor of Dayton, Ohio, needed extra security after President Donald Trump publiclyinsulted her, The Dayton Daily News reported.
Mayor Nan Whaley, grappling with the aftermath of a mass shooting this month in which nine people were killed, received a torrent of threats and abusive comments after the president traveled to the city to visit with victims and meet with local leaders.
In a press conference following Trump’s visit, Whaley and Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) discussed the need for more gun control. Brown also called Trump’s visit “comforting,” and Whaley said that first responders and victims were “grateful the president of the United States came to Dayton.”
Trump, however, lashed Whaley and Brown, calling them “very dishonest people” for “misrepresenting” his visit. He also tweeted that their press conference was a “fraud.” Some speculated that Trump may have been parroting a perspective he heard on Fox News.
“I turn on the television and there they are saying, ‘Well, I don’t know if it was appropriate for the president to be here. You know, etc., etc. You know, the same old line,’” Trump told reporters after his visit. “They’re very dishonest people and that’s probably why [Brown] got, I think, about zero percent, that he failed as a presidential candidate.”
Following Trump’s comments, Whaley received numerous threatening emails, phone calls and social media messages. According to The Dayton Daily News, one of the many abusive messages sent to Whaley warned: “Get the hell out of this country you disrespectful trash. Treason is death.”
An extra team of two detectives was assigned to her around the clock for six days after Trump’s comments, the newspaper reported Friday.
Whaley also tweeted that she was surprised by Trump’s insults:
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