HHS Can Continue Enforcing Abortion ‘Gag’ Rule, 9th Circuit Says

Opponents of a rule that restricts what taxpayer-funded family planning clinics can tell clients about abortion lost their bid to stop the rule’s enforcement during appellate review.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit July 11 denied emergency motions to stop the U.S. Health and Human Services Department from insisting on providers’ compliance with the rule while its validity is being tested in court.

A three-judge panel June 20 lifted injunctions imposed by federal district courts that had blocked the HHS’s enforcement of the rule. States and representatives for family planning service providers who receive money under the ...