Biden lifts abortion referral ban on family planning clinics

By RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR
Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration is reversing a ban on abortion referrals by federally funded family planning clinics. Monday’s action by the Department of Health and Human Services lifts a Trump-era restriction as political and legal battles over abortion grow sharper from Texas to the U.S. Supreme Court. Groups representing the clinics say they hope the rule reversal leads to the return of some 1,300 service providers that left the program to protest the Trump administration’s policy. HHS has estimated that the upheaval led to as many as 180,000 unintended pregnancies. The clinics provide birth control and basic health care mainly to low-income women.