Cutting access to aborts for the poor

The Trump administration announced Friday it’s drastically rolling back abortion access for lowincome Americans, a controversial move that’s expected to draw legal challenges.

The new restriction, which was posted on the Department of Health and Human Services website, prohibits family planning clinics funded by the federal Title X program from making abortion referrals.

The strict rule, which caters to President Trump’s religious conservative base, will also bar Title X clinics from being housed in the same building as abortion providers.

Title X clinics — which provide family planning services for low-income families — are already barred by federal law from using taxpayer funds for abortions, unless it pertains to a life-ordeath situation, rape or incest.

The new policy would prohibit doctors from referring patients for abortion even in such dire situations.

Planned Parenthood, which runs clinics that will be affected by the anti-abortion initiative, blasted the new “gag rule” as a threat to patient safety and noted that a majority of those benefiting from Title X are black and Hispanic.

“The gag rule will effectively dismantle the Title X program — a program meant to ensure that people with low incomes can access birth control & other essential reproductive health care,” Planned Parenthood tweeted.

New York Attorney General Letitia James ripped the announcement as the byproduct of a “baseless” political agenda and pledged to challenge the matter in court.