Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, May 29, 1990 TAG: 9005290297
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A/1 EDITION: EVENING
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
Critics of the regulations, issued by the Reagan administration in 1988, allege they violate free-speech and abortion rights.
At stake is the future scope of a federal program with a $200 million yearly budget. The program funds over 4,000 clinics serving some 5 million low-income women nationwide.
A federal appeals court in New York upheld the ban on abortion counseling but other federal courts ruled it is unconstitutional. The high court's decision, expected sometime in 1991, should resolve the conflicting rulings.
The family planning program, enacted by Congress as Title X of the Public Health Service Act, pays for creating and operating family planning clinics. The 1982 law forbids clinics from using the federal money to perform abortions, but initial regulations let the clinic staffs tell women about the abortion option.
After those regulations drew fire from anti-abortion groups, the government barred clinics from using federal money to advise women that abortion is an option or to refer them to abortion clinics.
The newer regulations say federally funded clinics may not "encourage, promote or advocate abortion as a method of family planning" or distribute written materials on abortion.
The regulations also require a family planning clinic that receives federal money to keep physically and financially separate any abortion clinic it might operate without federal money.
New York state and New York City officials, the directors of two family planning clinics, Planned Parenthood and other organizations challenged the 1988 regulations in federal court the same day they were issued.
The lawsuit contended the regulations go far beyond the restrictions imposed by the 1982 law, and that they impermissibly interfere with freedom of speech and women's choice to obtain abortions.
by CNB