ICYMI: Rep. Green Takes on Biden HHS for Attack on TN Healthcare
The State of Tennessee chose to protect life, passing the Heartbeat Bill soon after the Supreme Court’s 2022 decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. In retaliation, the Biden administration halted Title X funding for Tennessee, depriving low-income women access to healthcare services, including cancer screenings.
In response, Rep. Mark Green sent a letter to HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra and introduced the States Choose Life Act to protect the rights of states that choose to defend the unborn.
You can read about the letter and the bill below:
By Harold Hutchinson
June 26, 2023
The States Choose Life Act would prohibit the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) from “requiring a recipient or subrecipient of funds to provide referrals for abortion,” according to a copy of the legislation provided exclusively to the Daily Caller News Foundation. Tennessee passed legislation that restricts abortion after a fetal heartbeat is detected, which usually occurs after the sixth week of pregnancy, in 2020, which took effect when the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June 2022.
“HHS should not bully states into propping up the abortion industry,” Green told the DCNF. “My States Choose Life Act puts HHS in its place by ensuring states have the right to choose life while not losing Title X healthcare funding.”
Read the full report here.
By Lawrence Richard
June 27, 2023
In a statement to Fox News Digital, Green said his legislation would prevent HHS from stripping Title X funding from states that do not allow abortions and do not refer residents to abortion-allowing states, as it is doing to Tennessee.
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Title X is a family planning program that was established under the Public Health Service Act in 1970. It offers access to contraceptive care and other services, particularly to low-income Americans, and serves approximately 4 million people annually, according to the HHS.
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Rep. Green is taking action to prevent the HHS from weaponizing Title X to remove funding against states that choose to protect the right to life, saying his bill "will protect Tennessee from being bullied by the federal government into propping up the abortion industry."
Read the whole article here.
Tennessee rep introduces States Choose Life Act to protect 'bullying' from Biden administration
By WZTV
June 28, 2023
Green’s legislation comes on the heels of the one-year anniversary of the US Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe V. Wade, a 1973 ruling that made abortion legal. Abortion advocates have been fighting to get that right back since the controversial Dobbs decision.
Read the report here or at WATE 6 here.
Kaitlin Housler
June 28, 2022
“Secretary Becerra is using Title X funding as a cudgel to force states to participate in abortions or risk losing funding. This is abhorrent,” Green, who is an ER physician, stated.
Title X, according to the Congressional Research Service, “provides grants to public and nonprofit agencies for family planning services, research, and training.” As noted by Green, the funding has “supported low-income Tennessean families for decades.”
Read the report here.
Tennessee Republican protects state's anti-abortion laws from federal funding manipulation
By Gabrielle M. Etzel
June 27, 2023
Rep. Mark Green (R-TN) is seeking to prevent states from losing federal family planning dollars if they have anti-abortion statutes that conflict with the objectives of the Biden administration.
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"The Biden administration is throwing a temper tantrum because some states are standing up for life," Green told the Washington Examiner. "They are intent on making states that refuse to participate in abortions suffer. My legislation will protect Tennessee and other states from the Biden administration's malicious actions."
Green's "States Choose Life Act" amends Title X to stipulate that recipients of federal funding are not required to provide referrals or counseling for abortions if the procedure is unlawful in the state where the family planning services are being provided.
Prior to entering politics, Green was an Army flight surgeon who served in both Afghanistan and Iraq and made a civilian career as an ER physician. He also has an A+ rating with Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America.
Read the article here.
Tennessee Rep. Mark Green Introduces Bill to Stop Joe Biden’s HHS from Bullying Pro-Life States
By Katherine Hamilton
June 27, 2023
“The Biden administration has weaponized HHS to penalize states for standing for life,” Green said in an exclusive statement to Breitbart News. “This is a new low—even for this administration. My bill ensures states can stand for life without getting crucial Title X funding yanked in the process.”
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The bill comes after the HHS suspended Tennessee’s Title X Funding, which totaled $7.5 million in fiscal year 2023, primarily because the state does not provide abortion referrals to pregnant clients.
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The HHS is relying on a 2021 rule “which completely contradicts Title X’s prohibition on using its funding for abortion activities,” according to Green’s office. The agency’s use of the rule also reportedly “negates the Supreme Court’s ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson.”
Read the full report here.
Rep. Mark Green to Introduce Bill Combatting ‘HHS Weaponization’ of Title X
By Dan Hart
June 27, 2023
In response to the Biden administration’s threat to withhold Title X funding, Green’s bill, entitled the States Choose Life Act of 2023, stipulates that Title X be amended so that “The Secretary shall not require, as a condition on receipt of funds under this title, that any recipient or sub-recipient of such funds provide — ‘(1) referrals for pregnancy termination; or ‘(2) information or counseling on options for pregnancy termination that are unlawful in the State where the family planning services are being provided.’”
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Green, who formerly served as an emergency room physician, told The Washington Stand, “The Biden administration’s attack on the health care of Tennesseans is malicious. But no amount of pressure will convince us to bow to this pro-abortion agenda. My message to President Biden: we won’t back down when it comes to protecting the life of the unborn.”
Read the article here.
Tennessee Republican calls Xavier Becerra 'malicious' for axing funding over abortion ban
June 22, 2023
Rep. Mark Green (R-TN) called Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra's decision to revoke millions of dollars in federal family planning funding due to the state's abortion ban “arbitrary and malicious” in a letter sent on Wednesday.
"Title X funding is explicitly prohibited from going towards abortions,” Green told the Washington Examiner, “so HHS’s decision to eliminate Tennessee's funding because of our pro-life laws is abhorrent. How can this administration pretend to be pro-woman and yet cut off low-income women in Tennessee from cancer screenings, pregnancy counseling, and other crucial services? The Biden administration's hypocrisy is palpable."
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Becerra argued in a March letter that the phrasing of Tennessee’s instructions to clinicians makes the state out of compliance with the Title X statute.
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Green contends that the enforcement of the HHS rule both violates the congressional intent in the passage of Title X and is not in accordance with the Dobbs decision.
"While [HHS] may struggle to comprehend statutory laws and your solemn oaths to uphold said laws, the State of Tennessee is operating well within its constitutional and legal bounds," Green wrote. "Your department is targeting Tennesseans because this administration believes that everyone must kowtow to the radical pro-abortion agenda."
You can read the full article here.
‘Beyond The Pale’: GOP Rep Torches Biden Admin For ‘Targeting Tennessee’ Over Its Pro-Life Laws
Harold Hutchison
June 21, 2023
The Department of Health and Human Services officially notified Tennessee in a March 20th letter, according to Green’s letterto Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra.
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“This rule is deeply troubling because the law has been unequivocally clear since its establishment in 1970; Title X funds may not be used to support abortion as a method of family planning, and any abortion activities must be ‘separate and distinct’ from Title X programs,” Green continued.
…Green told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “Just because the State of Tennessee refuses to kowtow to the radical pro-abortion agenda doesn’t mean the Biden administration and HHS Secretary Becerra should be allowed to revoke family planning funding, which many families and communities rely on. Holding medical care hostage is beyond the pale.”
Read the full report here.
