The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals will allow a Trump administration ban on Title X funding for abortion providers to go into effect on Thursday after abortion advocates and a group of states sought an emergency stay for the policy. The administration's policy would prevent abortion providers from obtaining federal funding.
Last month, a three judge panel temporarily allowed the policy to go into effect pending the outcome of an appeal to the Ninth Circuit. The panel's decision came a few months after an Oregon judge issued a nation-wide preliminary injunction preventing the ban from taking place. A Washington state judge followed suit.
The decision requires health care clinics to be physically and financially separate from abortion clinics and forbids clinics that receive federal funding from recommending patients pursue abortions.
The 7-4 decision split the judges along party lines: the seven judges in the majority were appointed by Republicans, while the four judges in the minority were appointed by Democrats.
Twenty states, the District of Columbia, and a group of abortion-rights advocates including Planned Parenthood unsuccessfully pushed for an emergency stay to the panel's decision. Planned Parenthood called the decision "devastating news."
"While we are incredibly concerned the panel did not recognize the harm of the Trump-Pence administration’s gag rule, we will not stop fighting for the millions across the country in need for care," Leanna Wen, president of Planned Parenthood, said.
"Court decisions have historically played a key role in whether we, as a country, protect life or discard it. Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton are prime examples of the latter," March for Life President Jeanne Mancini wrote in an email to the Washington Free Beacon. "We hope that all future appointees will uphold the most fundamental right, the right to life."