SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 19 (Xinhua) -- San Francisco Mayor London Breed announced Monday that the city is withdrawing from the federal Title X Family Planning grant program to protest U.S. President Donald Trump's new rule change that bans abortions with federal funds.
The San Francisco Department of Public Health will quit the Title X program, to which the Trump administration made rule changes that prevent the city's health service providers supported by federal funds from offering reproductive care to their patients, according to the mayor's office.
"This is about ensuring that all patients in San Francisco have access to the information they need to make decisions about their health," said Breed.
"We won't stand by and let the federal government impose a gag rule that would restrict access to basic reproductive health services and prevent people from making informed choices about what is best for them," she added.
The Trump government unveiled in February this year its final rule imposing sweeping changes to the national family planning program, known as Title X.
But the policy, which many critics also called a "gag rule," has been challenged by more than 20 states and several civil rights groups in the states of California, Oregon and Washington.
The mayor's office said the new gag rule was an attempt to interfere with the provider-patient relationship by limiting the access of women and girls to services and information on topics such as pregnancy, contraception, sexually transmitted diseases, and reproductive health.
About four million women are served nationwide under the Title X program, which distributes 260 million U.S. dollars in grants to clinics, media reports said.
The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled last month the gag rule could take effect while litigation proceeds in three separate cases led by California, Oregon and Washington state.
The court will hear oral arguments in the cases in September in San Francisco.
Other healthcare providers in San Francisco, including Planned Parenthood and Women's Community Clinic, a program of healthRIGHT 360, are also exiting from the Title X program, said Breed's office.
