LOS ANGELES — Attorney General Xavier Becerra of California filed a lawsuit on Monday to block a controversial move by the Trump administration that would strip millions of dollars from Planned Parenthood and similar reproductive health service providers that receive federal funding.

Mr. Becerra said Monday that the administration’s changes to Title X, the federal family planning program, would punish doctors and clinics for giving women a comprehensive portrait of their reproductive options. The administration announced those changes last month.

“This is 2019, not 1920,” Mr. Becerra said in an interview. “Jeopardizing the health of women is not what we should be doing in the year 2019.”

Millions of low-income patients receive reproductive health services each year through Title X, a $286 million federal family planning initiative. Programs that receive Title X funding provide a range of services, including family counseling, preventive health screenings for breast and cervical cancers, contraceptives, and treatment for sexually transmitted infections. About 40 percent of the 4,000 clinics nationwide that receive Title X funding are operated by Planned Parenthood.

The rule change would prevent clinics that provide referrals to abortion services from receiving Title X funding. Such programs were already barred from using federal funds for abortion services.

The new rule, critics argue, threatens to leave women without a comprehensive understanding of their reproductive options.

On Monday, Oregon, New York, New Jersey and 17 other states said they would file a separate lawsuit challenging the new restrictions.

California would be particularly hard hit by the administration’s order, Mr. Becerra said. Of the four million women affected by the ruling nationwide, more than one million are in California, he said.

“Playing politics with that care is dangerous and grossly irresponsible,” Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a statement. “Our mothers, wives, sisters and daughters deserve better.”

The lawsuit is the 47th time that California has sued the Trump administration, as it continues to battle the president’s policies.

Last month, Mr. Becerra, along with his counterparts in 15 other states, challenged President Trump’s plan to declare a national emergency in order to access billions more dollars for a border wall than Congress had granted him.

“Everyone understands that you don’t want your kids to have to worry walking home that some bully is going to take away their lunch money,” Mr. Becerra said. “California is not going let Donald Trump take away our lunch money. We are going to do everything we can to protect our people and our values and our resources.”

Source: Read Full Article