Trump Abortion Restrictions Effective Immediately

WASHINGTON (AP) – The Trump administration says its new regulation barring taxpayer-funded family planning clinics from referring women for abortions is taking effect immediately.  The Health and Human Services department said Monday it will begin enforcing the ban on abortion referrals, along with a requirement that family planning clinics maintain separate finances from facilities that provide abortions.  The rule is widely seen as a blow against Planned Parenthood, which provides taxpayer-funded family planning and basic health care to low-income women, as well as abortions paid for separately.  Planned Parenthood and other family-planning providers are suing the Trump administration to overturn the regulations, but HHS says no judicial orders currently prevent it from enforcing the rule.  Another requirement that both kinds of facilities cannot be under the same roof takes effect next year.